LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



4—' I 



mpqt iMlt. 

Sh.elf.^.M-4 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE CRISIS OF THIS WORLD 



OR 



THE DOMINION AND DOOM OF 
THE DEVIL 



4^/" 



S. M. MERRILL 
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church 



CINCINNATI: CRANSTON & CURTS % 
NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON 
1896 



out-jr 1 



*% 



COPYRIGHT 

BY CRANSTON & CURTS, 

1896. 



PREFACE. 

♦ 

T^HIS booklet is a sermon enlarged. 
A Its theme has no great attraction 
for the average reader, but is of the 
highest importance to all lovers of truth. 
That the devil exists is a fact of tremen- 
dous significance. It has to do with 
almost every phase of Christian doctrine, 
and enters largely into the views one en- 
tertains of Christian experience, ethics, 
and work. 

It will inevitably occur to the reader 
that this doctrine of angels perverted 
into devils, pervades the Scriptures too 
extensively, and in too great a variety of 
ways, to have no substantial basis in fact. 
It is impossible to construe the Scrip- 
tural language on this subject as figura- 



4 PREFACE. 

tive representations of myths or abstract 
principles. The Bible recognition of bad 
angels is as clear, as positive, as circum- 
stantial, and as unmistakable as is its 
recognition of good angels. Whatever 
construction will exclude one class from 
actual existence will exclude the other 
class also. In our Savior's time the 
Sadducees denied the existence of angels 
and spirits, but the Pharisees confessed 
both. Our Lord and his apostles took 
the side of the Pharisees in this con- 
troversy. If they did not teach the ex- 
istence of angels, good and bad, their 
words were wild and misleading, deceiv- 
ing their own generation, and all the 
generations following. 

The question of demonology naturally 
arises in connection with that of diabol- 
ism, but the limits here imposed do not 
admit of its elaboration. Whether de- 
mons, as recognized in the New Testa- 



PREFACE. 5 

ment, were the departed souls of mortals 
who died in sin, or were a different order 
of existences, is a question not easily 
solved ; but no such difficult question 
arises with regard to the devils which 
fell from angelic ranks. Whatever the 
nature or origin of demons, they are the 
subjects of the devil's kingdom, and 
under his sway. Their affiliation with 
fallen angels is complete, and their work 
and destiny the same. 

Unless there is both diabolism and 
demonism in the Scriptures, the book is 
sealed to the understandings of men; its 
narratives are fables, its parables are 
riddles, and its revelations are as ambig- 
uous as the oracles of pagan shrines. If 
there are no devils, the Bible doctrine of 
sin becomes more mysterious than ever, 
and the manifestation of the Son of God 
to take away sin and " destroy the works 
of the devil, n assumes the character of 



6 PREFACE. 

a spectacular farce. Indeed, one hesi- 
tates to write the results of such dealing 
with the Scriptures as is necessary to 
eliminate this doctrine. 

Recognizing the trend of popular 
thought to be in the direction of disre- 
garding the seriousness of this feature 
of Divine revelation, and believing that 
the lightness with which it is ordinarily 
treated is subversive of vital piety, the 
conviction intensifies with meditation 
that some one ought to arrest the atten- 
tion of the Church to the contents of the 
Bible on this subject, and point out the 
shallowness of the assumptions of so- 
called u liberalism M which pass so cur- 
rently in these days as evidences of 
advanced thought. Wisdom demands 
sobriety in the study of such a theme, 
especially since superficiality has become 
emboldened to assert itself with such un- 
blushing audacity. The truth is neither 



PREFACE. 7 

narrow nor illiberal, nor is it likely to 
suffer permanently from the application 
of opprobrious epithets. There is no 
philosophy against it ; but there is need 
that attention be drawn to first prin- 
ciples and to the foundations. This 
little book is an effort to do this. Let 
it be read with the candor becoming the 
issue, and whether the reader's prepos- 
sessions accord with the current of its 
thought or not, let not its conclusions 
be thrust aside as antiquated and over- 
literal, till its positions are overthrown 
by the clearest possible expositions of 
the Sacred Word. With a sincere desire 
to encourage the study of the Holy 
Scriptures, and to secure reverent atten- 
tion to the voice of God with regard to 
the profoundest mysteries of his uni- 
verse, this little volume is sent forth to 
find its mission. 



CONTENTS. 



i. 

PAGE. 

The Crisis of this World, n 



II. 
The Unpardonable Sin, 121 

III. 

The Duration of Punishment, 155 

9 



I. 

The Crisis of this World. 

" Now is the judgment of this world i now shall 
the prince of this world be cast out. 53 — john xii, 31. 

SOMB Scriptures carry their meaning 
on their face, so that they can 
scarcely be misunderstood. Happily 
this is true of all that relate to morals 
and correctness of life; but in some in- 
stances where doctrines are concerned, 
and especially where the deep things of 
God which relate to his purposes and 
plans with reference to his triumph over 
the evil forces of the universe are in- 
volved, some study and careful meditation 
are necessary in order to apprehend the 
meaning of the expressions given. In 
the passage just read there is obscurity, 



12 THE CRISIS. 

which can only be removed by careful 
analysis. It contains two distinct prop- 
ositions, each one seeming to. be com- 
plete in itself, while a little study reveals 
mutual dependence, and shows partic- 
ularly that the latter is explanatory of 
the former. It is therefore necessary 
that the two statements be considered 
together, and, if possible, so as to bring 
out the meaning of the entire passage. 

Sometimes it is well in exposition to 
recall, or in some way recognize, the 
different views which have been taken 
of the Scripture in hand, before indi- 
cating the final interpretation to be in- 
sisted upon as correct. This is a pre- 
paratory exercise of the mind, and serves 
to remove difficulties, and to awaken 
anxiety to get at the truth, and to wel- 
come it as a relief to the perplexities 
which arise in considering conflicting 
statements. 



THE CRISIS. 13 

VARIOUS INTERPRETATIONS. 
Among the various interpretations of 
this Scripture, which have received more 
or less favor, two or three are worthy of 
mention, and indeed must be considered, 
in order to do justice to the claims set 
forth in their behalf. Unfortunately for 
the interests of sound exegesis, it too 
often happens that hypotheses are 
framed for the purpose of pressing the 
obscure passage into the service of some 
particular doctrine, rather than with an 
unbiased aim to elicit exact truth. 
Scarcely any portion of the Sacred 
Word has escaped this ordeal, while 
this particular passage has stood in the 
presence of conflicting creeds like some 
rocky fastness, or vantage-ground in a 
great battle. The advocates of oppos- 
ing doctrines have contended vigorously 
for its possession and support. As one 
looks upon the contentions of the past 



14 THE CRISIS. 

which have raged around it, the fact 
becomes apparent that it has been 
called to do service for doctrines which 
are foreign to its design and spirit, and 
to which it can only be made to yield a 
seeming support, under the manipula- 
tions of a criticism which is either su- 
perficial or violent. 

It is evident that, whatever doctrine 
may gain support or suffer loss by the 
interpretation adopted, the sense of this 
passage must be determined by the ap- 
plication of the word "judgment." 
This is its ruling term, and its mean- 
ing must be ascertained before progress 
can be made in the study of the propo- 
sitions it lays down. It involves the 
doctrine of the judgment to come in 
some way, although that doctrine is not 
its prominent thought. 

There is an interpretation, which has 
received favor from eminent authorities, 



THE CRISIS. 15 

which carries with it no particular 
heresy, and from which no serious re- 
sults would follow if it were accepted; 
but which, while plausible, can not be 
supported by the whole passage, nor by 
the application of other Scriptures con- 
taining similar terms. It holds that the 
words, "Now is the judgment of this 
world," relate to a fact then about to 
be accomplished, and which in a short 
time was actually consummated. The 
assumed fact is, that this world, through 
its courts and with legal formality, was 
about to judge and condemn its lawful 
Prince and Ruler in the person of Jesus 
Christ himself, and cast him out as a pre- 
tender, and as one unfit to live. That 
the powers of this world were about 
to do this thing is indisputable; for 
both the Jewish and the Roman author- 
ities were ready to proceed against him, 
and to pronounce the judgment of con- 



1 6 THE CRISIS, 

demnation which would result in his 
death. It was the hour and power of 
darkness that now prevailed. Why, then, 
is not this interpretation the true one, 
since its adoption involves no false doc- 
trine, nor any serious practical difficulty? 
It lacks exegetical soundness. In one 
respect it contravenes the truth. It im- 
plies, or rather assumes, that the phrase, 
"The prince of this world, " points to 
him who uttered the words as the 
"prince" intended. In a highly im- 
portant sense, Jesus Christ was the 
"Prince," the rightful Ruler, of this 
world, and of other worlds; but he never 
used this language with reference to 
himself. Wherever this phrase occurs, 
it designates another personage, an ac- 
tual ruler in his sphere, but not a right- 
ful ruler, whose expulsion from his do- 
minion would be a wrong, or a disaster 
to any interest of humanity. 



THE CRISIS. 17 

In another place the Savior uses these 
words : " Of judgment, because the prince 
of this world is judged." In this place 
the reference is to the work of the Spirit 
in reproving or convincing the world, 
and indicates the success of the work 
of the Spirit because of the successful 
judgment of "the prince of this world." 
In still another place he said: " Here- 
after I will not talk much with you: 
for the prince of this world cometh, 
and hath nothing in me." In this 
place, when Christ referred to himself, 
he did not hesitate to use the personal 
pronouns U I" and "me;" and it is 
next to impossible to suppose that he 
would thus speak of himself, and then 
confuse his hearers by saying of himself, 
"The prince of this world cometh, and 
hath nothing in me," when he meant 
that he himself was that "prince," and 
therefore had all there was in him. He 



1 8 THE CRISIS. 

could not, and did not, mean that he 
himself was the " prince of this world." 
His thought was upon some one differ- 
ent from himself, and so different, and 
so completely separate in person and 
interest, that he could have nothing in 
common with himself; some one who 
was not interested in his mission or 
work, but was antagonized by it, and 
condemned through the ministry of the 
truth and the work of the Spirit, and 
could have neither lot nor part in his 
redemption: u He hath nothing in me." 
Therefore, any exposition that identifies 
"the prince of this world" with Jesus 
Christ is to be rejected. 

Another interpretation requires quite 
as serious consideration, and perhaps 
more so, for the reason that it involves 
a very important doctrinal question. It 
is held as valid only by those who deny 
the future judgment, and assert a doc- 



THE CRISIS, 19 

trine of judgment which places the retri- 
bution for sin, and all personal account- 
ability, on this side of the grave, or at 
least this side of the resurrection of the 
dead. It is an insidious doctrine,- easily 
clothed in Scriptural language, and liable 
to find acceptance where its relations and 
implications are not suspected. It does 
not deny or antagonize the judgment, 
nor the day of judgment, but explains 
it so as to break its force and destroy its 
moral power. It assumes that the day 
of judgment is now here; that the work 
of judgment is now going on; that men 
are now appearing before the judgment- 
seat. of Christ, giving account of them- 
selves, and receiving according to their 
deeds, and are therefore now in a state 
of actual retribution. In other words, 
it holds that "the day of judgment" is 
the gospel day; that the judgment is 
progressive, proceeding in parallel lines 



20 THE CRISIS. 

with God's kingly rule or divine govern- 
ment over men; and that it is particu- 
larly manifested under the gospel econ- 
omy, relating largely, if not wholly, to 
the Divine dealings with men in a judi- 
cial way during life in this world. Its 
great point is the denial of any special 
period of judgment at the end of the 
gospel age, when rewards and punish- 
ments will be distributed for eternity. 
It thus alleges a present and progressive 
judgment, in opposition to the doctrine 
of a future general judgment at the last 
day, in connection with the resurrection 
of the dead; and in support of this no- 
tion, the first part of this Scripture is 
applied with great emphasis: "Now is 
the judgment of this world. " It may be 
said without exaggeration that this text 
is the corner-stone of this edifice, the 
chief support of this whole doctrine of 
present retribution, which opposes and 



THE CRISIS. 21 

challenges belief in a final judgment-day 
at the end of the world. Remove this, 
and the superstructure falls. Can it be 
removed by fair interpretation? 

A discussion of the doctrine of judg- 
ment, present or future, is not intended 
here; but the remark must be made that 
if this interpretation yields a doctrine 
clearly antagonized by the plainer teach- 
ings of our Lord, it can not be the right 
interpretation, and its alleged judgment 
is not the judgment alleged in this Scrip- 
ture. Without looking further, it is 
enough to know that our Savior teaches 
another doctrine of judgment in this 
immediate connection, so that we need 
not look beyond this chapter to find the 
future judgment affirmed. He says: "I 
am come a light into the world, that 
w 7 hosoever believeth in me should not 
abide in darkness. And if any man 
hear my words, and believe not, I judge 



22 THE CRISIS. 

him not: for I came not to judge the 
world, but to save the world. He that 
rejecteth me, and receiveth not my 
words, hath one that judgeth him: the 
word that I have spoken, the same shall 
judge him at the last day." This ex- 
plicit recognition of the time of the 
judgment "at the last day" is a com- 
plete refutation of the hypothesis which 
denies it, and is in full accord with all 
the direct teachings of the Scriptures on 
that subject. It contradicts the inter- 
pretation of the words before us, which 
assumes a present judgment, and forces 
us to seek a different meaning. 

TRUE INTERPRETATION. 

What, then, is the meaning of this 
Scripture ? It has been looked upon as 
rather obscure, and yet it must have a 
meaning, and mean something valuable, 
if its real import can be caught ; for our 



THE CRISIS. 23 

Lord never used idle or meaningless 
words. As before said, its right inter- 
pretation must be determined by the 
word " judgment,'' and its application. 
There was a "judgment" which was 
near at hand ; a judgment " of this 
world ;" and a judgment which had 
intimate relation to the overthrow of 
" the prince of this world." It is a spe- 
cial judgment of world-wide results, 
looking to the conquest of whatever 
antagonizes the dominion of the Son of 
man. 

The word "judgment" always means 
decision ; and this is as true in the 
Greek as in the English. There is no 
judgment where there is no decision. 
In any court of justice, civil or crim- 
inal, a judgment rendered is a decis- 
ion declared. If the word be used, as 
it often is, with reference to an exercise 
of the intellect, a mere mental process, 



24 THE CRISIS. 

a judgment formed is simply a decision 
arrived at in the mind, with regard to 
some question or problem pending. In 
fact, one can not conceive of the proper 
use of the word judgment where there 
is not a decision made or to be made. 
In the great day, when the question of 
human destiny shall be decided for weal 
or woe to every accountable being, that 
will be the final " judgment." In har- 
mony with this thought, the day of judg- 
ment is called the day of decision — " the 
great decisive day." 

Now, in the process of forming a judg- 
ment, whether it be a mere intellection, 
or the determination of the mind to a 
conclusion, or a decision formulated for 
expression or for legal declaration, there 
is a point where the mind turns towards 
a conclusion ; w T here it sways from equi- 
poise to the side of the prevailing reason 
or choice ; . where the preponderance of 



THE CRISIS. 25 

motive or argument becomes effective ; 
and that point is the turning-point in 
the case and decision. It carries with 
it the whole power of the mind, and de- 
termines the outcome of the intellectual 
effort in weighing the merits of the case. 
It is the act formative of the judgment. 
The mind then turns to its conclusion, 
and rests in its judgment. 

There are many turning-points in life. 
Each one is a decision. It determines 
something for us. These turning-points 
meet us at almost every step ; they come 
unsought and unbidden, and they con- 
front us with imperative demands. We 
must face them and accept the issue, 
whether we will or not. Some of them 
are more serious than others, because 
they touch more delicate phases of life, 
and carry into the future more that is 
vital to our well-being ; but we are un- 
able to see them or estimate their im- 



26 THE CRISIS. 

portance. In not a few instances the 
turning-point comes and goes without 
attracting the slightest attention at the 
time, and yet it is decisive of one's whole 
future. Perhaps it is a very little thing 
in itself, a mere incident, but its results 
will be felt through all the paths of life. 
It may be an ordinary business transac- 
tion, an introduction to a stranger, a 
passing social event, something that 
comes and goes as a matter of course, 
producing a momentary entertainment 
of pleasure or pain ; or it may be an 
accident, a seeming blunder, or some- 
thing neither sought nor desired ; and 
yet, in after life, in its combinations with 
other things, it may be seen to have 
affected one's whole life. It may have 
been the most potent factor in deciding 
his business, or his place of abode, or 
his family connections, or the success or 
failure of some enterprise that had to do 



THE CRISIS. 27 

with his entire career. It was a turning- 
point, a decisive event. 

These turning-points occur, not only 
in individual life, but in the life of fam- 
ilies, of societies, of Churches, and of 
nations. They come when least ex- 
pected, and are passed and their work 
done without observation ; yet their influ- 
ence is none the less powerful because 
unknown. There is a word which ex- 
presses to us the exact idea of a turning- 
point, and we often use it without a 
thought of its full meaning. It is the 
word crisis. In political life its use is 
quite familiar. There is always a crisis 
at hand when an election is pending. 
The turning-point is the election itself. 
That is the decisive event. A crisis 
always points to a pivotal event in one's 
life or history, or in the history of the 
family, Church, or nation. In every 
great enterprise there is a turning-point 



28 THE CRISIS. 

or crisis, when success or failure will be 
determined. There is a crisis in every 
battle. In every political campaign there 
is a crisis, sometimes more than one. 
The politician has keen eyes to discern 
the approach of the crisis. He sees just 
before him the turning-point which is 
to decide the country's fate for weal or 
woe — a crisis. 

This word crisis answers exactly to 
the word "judgment" in this Scripture. 
It is a turning-point, or a decisive event, 
that is expressed or meant by the word 
judgment. It is the word used by the 
Lord in this place, so that no violence 
would be done the passage by reading 
it, " Now is the crisis of this world ; now 
shall the prince of this world be cast 
out." The Son of man saw a turning- 
point in this world's affairs just at hand ; 
something was about to occur that would 
be decisive, that would touch the in- 



THE CRISIS. 29 

terests of humanity for the future, that 
would decide the fate of the dominion 
of " the prince of this world," not for 
time alone, but for eternity as well — a 
crisis ! 

What could it be ? It is not enough 
to speak here of an ordinary crisis; of 
a political occurrence of such signifi- 
cance as to determine the dynasty or 
the ruling power of the earth ; for while 
such an event would be a crisis in the 
civil affairs of the nations, it would not 
reach the profound significance of these 
pregnant words, " the crisis of this 
world. " Conjecture here will not do. 
We must know the decisive event. 
Happily there is no need of conjecture. 
The connection gives us the unmis- 
takable identification of the event. 

Jesus had just attended a feast in 
Bethany, where Mary anointed his feet 
and wiped them with the hairs of her 



30 THE CRISIS. 

head. Judas was there, and complained 
of the waste of expensive ointment. 
Then Jesus spoke of his burial. The 
next day was his triumphant entry 
into Jerusalem. It was the time of the 
Jewish passover, a great festival, with 
a great gathering of people. Among 
them were certain Greeks who came up 
to worship at the feast. They were 
anxious to see Jesus, whose fame had 
spread far and wide. They approached 
Philip, and said to him : " Sir, we would 
see Jesus. " Philip told Andrew, and 
these two together told Jesus. In reply, 
Jesus made a brief address in their pres- 
ence, and in the presence of the gath- 
ered assembly, which for comprehensive- 
ness and profound thought was never 
excelled in human speech, not even in 
his own discourses. He said : 

" The hour is come, that the Son of 
man should be glorified. Verily, verily, 



THE CRISIS. 31 

I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat 
fall into the ground .and die, it abideth 
alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth 
much fruit. He that loveth his life 
shall lose it ; and he that hateth his 
life in this world shall keep it unto life 
eternal. If any man serve me, let him 
follow me ; and where I am, there shall 
also my servant be : if any man serve 
me, him shall my Father honor. Now 
is my soul troubled ; and what shall I 
say ? Father, save me from this hour : 
but for this cause came I unto this hour. 
Father, glorify thy name." 

As the people listened with awe and 
wonder, a strange sound was heard. It 
was not intelligible to the multitude, as 
the voice of God never is till the heart 
is opened by the Spirit of grace. "Then 
came there a voice from heaven, saying, 
I have both glorified it, and will glorify 
it again. The people therefore that 



32 THE CRISIS. 

stood by and heard, said that it thun- 
dered. Others said an angel spake to 
him. Jesus said, This voice came not 
because of me, but for your sakes. Now 
is the judgment of this world ; now 
shall the prince of this world be cast 
out. And I, if I be lifted up from the 
earth, will draw all men unto me." The 
evangelist adds : " This he said, signify- 
ing what death he should die." There 
is no possibility of a mistake as to the 
event in his mind. The great event, 
which was the turning-point in human 
history and in the history of Divine 
government over men, was the death of 
Jesus Christ. For this purpose and for 
this hour he came. His birth and life 
were preparatory ; his death was the 
climax. It was the culmination of his 
mission. In that event centered all hu- 
man interest and human hope. It was 
the turning-point of destiny, the crisis 



THE CRISIS. 33 

of this world, the decisive hour for ruler- 
ship in the spiritual realm. 

This is the thought of this Scripture. 
How shall we estimate the magnitude 
of this crisis? From the beginning 
prophecy turned upon it. Inspired men, 
impelled by the Spirit of the Lord within 
them, wrote of it and wondered. Angels 
stooped from their high abode and bent 
their energies to grasp its meaning. 
They looked into it as we look into 
infinity. We see it as we see the ocean ; 
as we see the immensity of space ; as 
we see the stars in their eternal march. 
We get a glimpse of what transcends 
our powers, and humbly pause before 
the unmeasured depth of the fathomless 
abyss. 

THE PRINCE. 

The words that suggest the view now 
to be taken of this crisis are in this 

verse : " Now shall the prince of this 
3 



34 THE CRISIS. 

world be cast out." This is an ultimate 
result. But who is " the prince of this 
world?" Why is he the prince of this 
world, and not of some other world? 
What the nature and boundary of his 
domain? Why cast him out? What is 
meant by casting him out? By what 
agency shall it be done ? and what the 
result? Here is a field too large for full 
survey; but to some of these questions 
brief answers must be given. 

With regard to the first question, some 
preparation for an answer has been made, 
but only negatively. It has been shown 
that " the prince of this world " was not 
the Christ himself. Jesus said of him 
very plainly: " He hath nothing in me." 
When Christ should be enthroned, this 
other prince should be cast out. They 
are antagonists. The only "prince" to 
be " cast out" by the death of Christ is 
the grand usurper of dominion in this 



THE CRISIS. 35 

world, God's chief adversary, the enemy 
whose works the Son of God came to 
destroy, the devil. He is a prince ; the 
" prince of the devils ;" the " prince ol 
darkness;" " the prince of the power ot 
the air, the spirit that worketh in the 
children of disobedience." He is " the 
god of this world, that hath blinded the 
minds of them that believe not." He is 
" the prince of this world." 

We are thus brought face to face with 
the doctrine, not of devils, but the doc- 
trine of the Holy Scriptures concerning 
the devils. What of all the doctrines 
has larger place in the discourses and 
parables of the Lord than this same doc- 
trine concerning the devils? Nor is 
there any theme that mingles more 
freely with the writings of the apostles 
than the activity, vigilance, and ceaseless 
persistence of the devils, in corrupting 
human souls and seducing them from 



36 THE CRISIS. 

the truth. The miracle-working power 
of Christ was displayed in " casting out 
4evils," perhaps more than in any other 
direction. Yet in our times, how seldom 
this subject enters the pulpit ! How 
unwelcome the theme ! One verily 
needs to apologize for preaching as did 
the Lord and his apostles. 

Skepticism begins at this point. It 
becomes fashionable to speak lightly of 
devils and of Satanic influences. People 
doubt the existence of devils ; treat them 
as myths and hobgoblins, and scowl 
them out of being, without serious 
thought. After a while they awake to 
the fact that the reasoning which dis- 
cards devils, leads to the denial of angels 
and all spiritual existences, and finally to 
the denial of God. Most men deny the 
existence of the devil first, and then 
float on the waves of doubt till gross 
materialism sweeps tbem into the abyss 



THE CRISIS. 37 

of dismal agnosticism. When the devil 
and his kingdom are turned into a figure 
of speech, the descent into the darkness 
of atheism is easy. 

From the pew also comes the excla- 
mation, " What ! does the minister be- 
lieve in a personal devil? I thought 
the Church had discarded that belief. " 
Perhaps some Churches have. Many 
Church members appear to have done 
so, and not a few preachers. Modern 
glossings of the Scriptures have mysti- 
fied the people till the sophistries of 
unbelief have robbed them of the sim- 
plicity of faith. Imperfect conceptions 
of personality have done much to help 
on the progress of this subtle unbelief. 
It is so easy to confound personality 
with some form of bodily presence, and 
so hard to conceive of it as purely spir- 
itual without body or parts. Verily 
there is need to look soberly at these 



38 THE CRISIS. 

things, as insidious poison so readily 
distills in the heart, and error abounds 
on every side, creeping into the Churches 
and pulpits of the land, with blinding 
and perverting power. 

PERSONIFYING EVIL. 
Let us look into this subject courage- 
ously. It is neither ethical nor scien- 
tific. 'Philosophy tells little about it. 
Yet the facts of human life are sunken 
into deeper mystery without than with 
the plain truths of revelation with regard 
to the existence of devils ; and no truth 
in science or philosophy antagonizes our 
most literal interpretations of Scripture. 
A figure of speech ! What a convenient 
thing it is to resolve every unpalatable 
truth into a rhetorical trope ! With 
those who still respect the Scriptures, 
and yet deny the reality of devils, the 
popular assumption is that all Scriptural 
recognitions of the evil one are to be 



THE CRISIS. 39 

interpreted figuratively; that the prin- 
ciple of evil is personified and made 
the chief devil, " the prince of the 
devils ;" and that the evil passions of 
men are metaphorically called devils. 
This might be labeled, " Important if 
true." It reduces the mission of the 
Son of God wonderfully. To destroy 
the works of such a devil was exceed- 
ingly expensive at the cost of such a 
price as the incarnation and death of 
Jesus Christ. 

So great has been the influence of this 
notion of the personification of evil that 
it must be tested. It comes to us as a 
generalization, with little definiteness, 
and with sweeping pretentiousness, but 
unwilling and unable to endure subjec- 
tion to analysis, or rigid application to 
particular Scriptures. It fails to meet 
the requirements of either the facts or 
the language of the Bible. These dis- 



40 THE CRISIS. 

tinguish devils from men, and ascribe to 
them personal agency, qualities, powers, 
and activities, too distinctly and persist- 
ently to be transformed into personifi- 
cations. Even figurative language is 
amenable to law. It is not necessarily 
vague because figurative. Any interpre- 
tation of it that will not stand appropri- 
ate tests must be condemned. 

What is this principle of evil? Is it 
a chimera? Is it a nothing, or is it an 
entity? Where does it reside? What 
does it do ? Is it not itself a devil ? Is 
it any better than a devil? Is it less 
harmful, or its existence more easily ac- 
counted for? We must inquire into this 
thing, and pursue it as personificationists 
never think of doing. The concession 
that there is an evil principle is some- 
thing. Whether it be physical or moral, 
it must have a nature and a residence, 
and some relation to human life and to 



THE CRISIS, 41 

the Divine government. If it exists and 
does the work of the devil, it should be 
so credited, and treated with the respect 
due to the devil. 

Evil is a quality. It is the quality of 
something, and has no existence apart 
from its substance, whether its sub- 
stance be matter, mind, or spirit. There 
is, then, no abstract principle of evil to 
be personified. The imagination is a 
powerful factor in human intellection ; 
but the imagination, be it ever so brill- 
iant, can not conceive of an abstract 
principle of evil actually existing out- 
side of its substance, so as to admit of 
rational or logical personification. One 
can conceive of evil so as to abstract it 
in the mind ; but to conceive of it as a 
principle existing in an abstract form, 
and working as an impersonal agent, is 
quite another thing, and impossible. 
There is, therefore, no abstract evil ; no 



42 THE CRISIS. 

evil that does not exist as a quality 
inhering in some substance, agent, thing, 
or person. Keep this in mind. Evil is 
not a substance, but a quality; and it is 
a quality of something that has being ; 
and that substance which has being 
is evil because of this quality which 
inheres within it. The substance or 
being takes its character from its qual- 
ities. This is true both in physics and 
in morals. Let us illustrate : Here is a 
piece of wood. You touch it and learn 
its qualities. At once you find two 
which are distinct, but never separated. 
They are hardness and smoothness. 
Both are real, and by mental effort you 
can abstract them, and think of each 
apart from the other; but they never so 
exist. The abstraction is purely mental. 
There is no hardness in the abstract, 
and no smoothness. There must be 
something that is hard, and something 



THE CRISIS. 43 

that is smooth, or these qualities can 
never exist. You can not imagine ab- 
stract life. It never so exists. There 
must be some living thing, or life has 
no place, no being. So it is with all 
spiritual things and qualities. There 
are moral qualities. These are predi- 
cated of spiritual entities. It is difficult 
to conceive of them otherwise than as 
so related. Certainly they never exist 
in the abstract, or apart from the sub- 
stance or entity to which they belong. 
They inhere in something, and give 
character to something that is capable 
of moral character. There is no moral 
evil where there is no moral being capa- 
ble of moral qualities. Moral qualities 
or principles do not float in the air, or 
reside in the sunshine or in the storm ; 
they do not cleave to beasts or birds ; 
they do not spring from the grass or the 
flowers. It is only in moral beings that 



44 THE CRISIS. 

moral qualities are found. They are 
found in men, because men are capable 
of moral action, and of moral character ; 
and they are attributed to angels for 
the same reason. Goodness is a moral 
quality ; but there is no moral goodness 
outside of some moral being that is 
good. It may be in men or angels, for 
these are capable of moral character, 
and may be good. Badness is a moral 
quality; but badness does not exist out- 
side of its substance ; and moral badness 
has no existence outside of moral beings 
that are bad. These may be men or 
angels, for both men and angels are 
capable of moral character. All the 
moral evil in the universe resides in 
moral beings. Let this be understood, 
and the question of the existence of 
devils is simplified. It is narrowed down 
to the question of the existence of moral 
evil outside of human beings. If it 



THE CRISIS. 45 

exists outside of human beings, it must 
be inside of some other beings ; and 
these other beings, having intrinsic na- 
tures of the angelic grade, and being 
perverted by the qualities of evil they 
possess, are essentially corrupted angels, 
and therefore devils. Let the thought 
be reiterated : There is no moral evil 
where there is no moral nature. Men 
have moral natures, and moral evil 
dwells in men ; and if there are no other 
beings possessing moral natures, then 
moral evil can not exist outside of men. 
It can not assail men from without ; it 
can not lie in their pathway to entrap 
them ; it can not approach them with 
evil solicitations ; it can not seduce 
them into evil ways. Evil extrinsic to 
man in that event is powerless, for it 
has no being ; and to all temptation 
from without, man's nature is imper- 
vious. 



46 THE CRISIS. 

The Scriptures abound with warnings 
to men against the forces of moral evil 
that assail them from without, seeking 
to seduce and overcome them. Are 
these warnings from God? Is there 
truth in them? If not, then they are 
deceptive and misleading. They are 
doing the work of the devil; for he is a 
deceiver. This is his prime character- 
istic. But what deception can a non- 
entity impose? How can an abstraction 
mislead? In what way can a personifi- 
cation seduce? Who stands in awe of a 
metaphor? Either there are evil beings 
haunting the footsteps of men, pursuing 
them, tempting them, and sometimes 
leading them captive at will, or else 
needless warnings follow them, arousing 
needless fears of non-existent evils and 
impossible dangers. 

The Scriptures teach two things con- 
cerning devils: First, that they exist; 



THE CRISIS. 47 

and, second, that they tempt men and 
seek their ruin. Just here, as we enter 
the study of the Sacred Writings, with 
the view to find out their revelations 
concerning the devils, we are met with 
wonderings as to why fuller information 
has not been vouchsafed on a subject of 
such stupendous import. The same 
wonderment might arise with reference 
to many other things; but it is not for 
us to know the reasons for the limita- 
tions of knowledge within which we are 
confined. Our business is to keep within 
our limitations, and make the best of 
what we possess. The purpose of Di- 
vine inspiration is to reveal God, not the 
devils ; and the disclosures made to us of 
these invisible powers are incidental, and 
only incidental, to the main purpose of 
the Bible. It is not strange, therefore, 
that our information is incomplete. 
Whatever is told us of the angels that 



48 THE CRISIS. 

sinned is for our warning, and not for 
the gratification of our curiosity. Of 
course, we often wish we could know 
more of the dark and mysterious things 
of the invisible world. It would gratify 
us to have the veil drawn aside, if but 
for a moment, or, with the young man 
with the prophet at Dothan, to have our 
eyes opened for a single gaze into the 
realm of the spiritual; but we must 
wait. Only slight glimpses are ours; 
and yet what wonderful things flash 
forth from out of the thick darkness, as 
lightnings in the storm, when God 
speaks of things unseen! The rift in 
the cloud shows measureless worlds be- 
yond us. 

SOME ERRORS. 
Let us first correct some prevalent 
errors. These come largely from po- 
etry. As Homer sang of the gods, so 
Milton and Dante and Pollok, and 



THE CRISIS. 49 

others, have sung of angels and devils. 
Poetic genius revels in the mysterious, 
and luxuriant fancy paints heroes and 
warriors, and victors and vanquished, 
with limitless rounds of conflict and 
peril and triumph, till thrones and do- 
minions and powers move onward to 
final destiny at will. The pictures are 
brilliant, and affect the imagination ; but 
they are only pictures. We must come 
down to facts. These are not numerous, 
but they are telling. 

The first erroneous impression to be 
corrected has reference to the original 
abode of the angels that sinned. In 
popular thought these angels were once 
inhabitants of the heaven to which we 
aspire — the home of the good. A very 
thoughtful man of the legal profession 
once came to me with this line of 
thought: "If sin once entered heaven, 
why may it not enter there again? If 



50 THE CRISIS. 

angels in heaven once committed sin 
and were cast out, why may not others, 
and why may not the saints from earth 
rebel and fall? Why do you describe 
heaven as a holy place, and all its 
inhabitants as unalterably established 
in holiness, if some rebelled and lost its 
blessedness ?" This man did not wish 
to be skeptical, but the popular view 
had brought serious difficulties into his 
mind. The looser faith, or non-faith, of 
Liberalism brought no relief, unless at 
the cost of some vital truth or Scrip- 
tural principle touching the divinity of 
Christ and atonement for sin, besides 
failing to explain the trend of the Scrip- 
tures with regard to the immanence of 
angels and spirits. Suggestions were 
made that relieved him, opening to the 
eye of faith a new vista, as he looked 
again into the broader sphere of the in- 
visible. How marvelously the Bible en- 



THE CRISIS. 51 

larges vision and thought as we ap- 
proach accuracy of interpretation! 

Probation is the key to the profound- 
est mysteries. Now and then, persons 
are troubled with the thought that men 
on earth should be on trial, with destiny- 
making power in their hands, while 
superior intelligences were created in 
heaven, with none of the perils of pro- 
bation to pass. Why should frail mor- 
tals be the exception? Is not the risk 
too great? Is not the responsibility dis- 
proportioned to our powers? Why 
should eternal consequences result from 
human action? Where else do we find 
such infinite effects from finite causes? 

Some of these are hard questions. 
God has not yet given account of him- 
self for some of his proceedings. We 
can not penetrate the motives of his 
rule, nor comprehend the reasons of all 
his appointments. General principles 



52 THE CRISIS. 

must guide where the fiery pillar of Rev- 
elation withholds* its light from the path- 
way of our feet as we walk in this wilder- 
ness. Let us look steadily, and the stars 
in the firmament of Revelation will send 
glimmerings athwart the darkness, per- 
haps enough to lead us safely till the 
day dawns. 

It appears to be not the exception, 
but the order of the universe, that ra- 
tional, accountable beings, of all ranks 
and grades, should have a probational 
existence before confirmation in holiness. 
Were not "the angels that sinned " on 
probation? How else could they fall? 
What means the assertion that they 
"kept not their first estate ?" It must 
be that, somewhere, they had an "es- 
tate" to keep, a law of life to obey, with 
confirmation in holiness conditioned on 
fidelity. What else can the Scriptures 
mean? It matters not that we have not 



THE CRISIS. 53 

been told where it was, nor what it was, 
nor how long they stood, nor why they 
fell; the essential thing is, that in " their 
• first estate," within the " bounds of their 
own habitation," they were on trial, with 
a conditional blessedness before them, 
able to stand and free to fall. Their 
first estate was a probation. We know 
not its terms or tests, nor can we know 
its locality in the vast universe. Some- 
where, within the dominion of the Al- 
mighty, they had their being, and their 
calling and privileges, and their duties 
and responsibilities; and, since inflexible 
justice is the rule of God's government, 
we must believe that their trial was a 
fair one. In their condition a fall was 
possible, but only possible by a willful 
abuse of power. 

L,et this thought be followed. If " the 
angels that sinned" were on- probation, 
so also were those that did not sin. 



54 THE CRISIS. 

May we not conclude that all angels 
were on trial in their " first estate ?" If 
not, why not? Must it be assumed that 
all fell who were on probation, or who 
could fall? To our thought, human 
probation is not an exception, but the 
rule in the moral universe, a dim shad- 
owing of angelic probation, the only 
condition suited to the free development 
of moral character under the universal 
government by rewards and punish- 
ments. Let it be understood, then, that 
somewhere in the domain of the King 
Eternal, and at some period in the limit- 
less past, the angels of God were on pro- 
bation; that, whatever the terms, some 
stood the test imposed, and were con- 
firmed in holiness, and were exalted 
to the heaven of heavens, where apos- 
tasy is forever impossible ; and that some 
failed to stand, and u left their own habi- 
tation, " fell into open rebellion, and 



THE CRISIS, 55 

were cast down into Tartarus, the prison 
of darkness, to await the final judgment. 
These are the fallen angels, the devils. 
Their chief is Beelzebub, "the prince of 
the devils," "the prince of darkness," 
"the prince of this world." 

The Scriptures speak of "war in 
heaven," when Satan and his hosts were 
cast out. That word "heaven" is a 
great word. In its wider use it means 
all the vast universe where sin does not 
abide. In the symbolical book of Reve- 
lation the apostasy of angels is described 
as war in heaven; but this does not an- 
tagonize the conception here given. In 
the end it will confirm it. But for the 
present it is enough to aver that there is 
no Scripture that teaches the popular 
thought which locates the sin of angels 
in the heaven of unchangeable bless- 
edness. 

The next error to be corrected is the 



56 THE CRISIS. 

common assumption that the devils are 
already in their final abode, in the doom 
symbolized by the "lake of fire." This 
popular assumption does not accord with 
the Scriptures. On this point the testi- 
mony is more explicit than on the other. 
They are in Tartarus, the prison-house 
of darkness; but they are not in Ge- 
henna. We speak of them as the in- 
habitants of hell, without defining the 
thought expressed or studying the exact 
meaning of the words. As yet they are 
this side the final judgment, this side of 
Gehenna, this side the "lake of fire," 
this side of their final doom. They are 
under " chains of darkness," but they are 
not physically bound. They are in the 
state which to us is invisible; but they 
have access to earth, and mingle w 7 ith 
the affairs of mortals, in some way af- 
fecting our probation, disturbing our 
peace, and seeking our ruin. They in- 



THE CRISIS. 57 

cite men to evil ways, stir up their baser 
passions, instigate cruelty and crime, 
blind the understanding, deceive the 
thoughtless, and take captive the un- 
wary. This they do during our proba- 
tion; but when the judgment sits, and 
their final sentence falls upon them, they 
will pass into Gehenna, the final perdi- 
tion, and then their career of tempta- 
tion and war against the Church ends 
forever. 

According to the testimony of Peter, 
"God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to Tartarus, and 
delivered them into chains of darkness, 
to be reserved unto judgment." They 
are cast into prison, and held in custody, 
awaiting the judgment that will consign 
them to their endless doom. The lan- 
guage of Jude is much like this, but 
slightly more specific. It is: "And the 
angels which kept not their first estate, 



58 THE CRISIS. 

but left their own habitation, he hath 
reserved in everlasting chains under 
darkness unto the judgment of the great 
day." This word " reserved, " in both 
these passages, has a meaning. It is 
used of the ungodly of the human race 
who have died, and are awaiting the 
judgment: "The Lord knoweth how to 
deliver the godly out of temptations, and 
to reserve the unjust unto the day of 
judgment to be punished." To "re- 
serve" is to hold fast, to keep in custody. 
Prisoners under arrest, placed in prison 
for safe-keeping till court shall sit, are 
kept in custody, "reserved" unto the 
judgment of the court. So the angels 
that sinned are in prison, "reserved unto 
the judgment of the great day," not to 
be released, but "to be punished" — pun- 
ished by being cast into "everlasting 
fire, prepared for the devil and his an- 
gels." In the Apocalyptic vision of 



THE CRISIS. 59 

u the judgment of the great day," after 
Satan had been in the " bottomless pit," 
and after he had been " loosed for a little 
season," deceiving the nations which are 
in the four quarters of the earth, it is 
written: "And the devil that deceived 
them was cast into the lake of fire and 
brimstone, where the beast and false 
prophet are, and shall be tormented day 
and night for ever and ever." This final 
doom comes after "the judgment of the 
great day," and after the whole period 
of temptation and warfare against the 
Church, and after the imprisonment in 
Tartarus under chains of darkness. It 
is therefore after the close of the reign 
of sin on the earth, and after the end of 
the gospel dispensation. "And death 
and hell were cast into the lake of fire. 
This is the second death." 

From all this it appears unmistakable 
that the devil and his angels have not 



60 THE CRISIS. 

yet reached their final doom. They are 
beyond their time of probation, impris- 
oned in the world of darkness, awaiting 
the coming of the great day, when their 
final punishment is sure. In the mean- 
time their imprisonment does not de- 
stroy their activity. Their chains of 
darkness do not impede their locomotion 
within their limits. Having passed their 
own probation, and fallen, they become 
an element in ours. They find access 
to mortals on this mundane sphere, and 
here on earth they war against the Lord 
and against his Anointed. Here is the 
citadel of their power, and here, as no- 
where else in the universe, their flag of 
rebellion waves defiance to the army of 
God. The " prince of darkness'' is now 
"the prince of this world." He is u the 
prince of the power of the air." 



THE CRISIS. 6 1 

IMMANENCE OF THE INVISIBLE. 

There are some things here which are 
"hard to be understood." The fact that 
the fallen angels are imprisoned "under 
chains of darkness," dwelling in Tar- 
tarus, and are yet in this world tempt- 
ing and seeking to govern the children 
of men, is a mystery. We own it such, 
and yet we know that much of the 
mystery grows out of our habits of 
thought, and our unarranged impres- 
sions with regard to the invisible world. 
It is so hard for us to conquer the feel- 
ing that the world of darkness is neces- 
sarily very far off. Although invisible, 
it is not far away physically. It is a 
spiritual world, and very near to us. Its 
lines touch the world we live in, and its 
borders overlap the scenes of our daily 
lives, pressing hard upon our pathway 
when we least suspect the presence of 



62 THE CRISIS. 

the unseen. If our eyes could be opened, 
we might behold troops of angels, good 
and bad, covering the mountains and 
valleys about us, as the horsemen and 
chariots of God surrounded Elisha on 
the mountain at Dothan, when the 
Lord opened the young man's eyes in 
the presence of the prophet. There are 
more things in heaven and earth than 
human philosophy has ever dreamed of. 
As the earth floats enwrapped in its own 
atmosphere, so is it surrounded by the 
unseen forces of the spiritual world. 
The relation of the visible and the in- 
visible is more intimate than our ma- 
terial senses can discern or verify. We 
can not apprehend the spiritual phe- 
nomena with which Revelation is bur- 
dened till we catch the thought that 
only the veil of flesh and blood shuts us 
in from the world of spiritual realities — 
a world too subtle for our dull senses to 



THE CRISIS. 63 

detect, and too vast for our present 
powers to comprehend. 

This immanence of the invisible 
explains much, while it expands our 
thoughts, giving us a wider horizon 
than is otherwise possible ; but still our 
vision is circumscribed, and we are un- 
able to pass the limitations of our being. 
We stand in awe in the presence of the 
deeper mysteries which encompass us, 
knowing that just beyond lies the realm 
of the unsearchable. We should not, 
therefore, stagger at the thought con- 
fronting us, that the angels which " left 
their own habitation, " wherever that 
was, and lost the hope of the higher 
heaven, found their way to this newly- 
endowed earth, and here planted the 
throne of the kingdom of darkness. 
Here, under the leadership of "the 
prince of darkness," they found the hu- 
man pair in the garden of innocence, 



64 THE CRISIS. 

laid siege to their hearts through their 
senses, and seduced them from their 
allegiance to God. Thus, gaining as- 
cendency in human hearts, they began 
the contest for the dominion of this 
world. Here Satan established his seat. 
Here gathered all the forces of evil. 
Here assembled "the rulers of the dark- 
ness of this world,'' "the wicked spirits 
on high 1" In the light of this truth 
the reason dawns upon us why it is that 
" the prince of the devils," " the prince 
of darkness," is also "the prince of this 
world," and must be cast out as the 
kingdom of God is established and grows 
upon the earth. 

In further considering this thought, 
the Scriptures alone can guide us to an 
adequate recognition of the presence 
and dominion of the devils in this world, 
and their connection with the affairs of 
men. The question is one of fact, and 



THE CRISIS. 65 

since the fact depends not on any philos- 
ophy we can comprehend, progress can 
not be made in its study except in fol- 
lowing the light of the Sacred Word, 
accepting its testimouy, and walking 
steadily whithersoever it leads. In its 
relation to goodness, sin is discordant 
and destructive ; but within its domain 
it appears to be a bond of union. Its 
virus penetrates the natures of all classes 
whom it touches. Men and devils are 
made akin through its blight. " Who- 
soever committeth sin is of the devil." 
It is therefore more than a figure of 
speech when wicked men are called u the 
children of the devil." As sin is of the 
devil, wherever sin reigns, there is the 
kingdom of the wicked one, and there 
his dominion. 

SATAN AND JOB. 

The thought that Satan has much to 
do with men in this world pervades the 
5 



66 THE CRISIS. 

Scriptures. It is possible that the book 
of Job is the oldest book in the world. 
Whatever of revision or adaptation of its 
language may have occurred at a later 
date, its conception of God and of the 
social and religious life of the people an- 
tedates Moses. Its life is pre-eminently 
patriarchal and pastoral, and its pictures 
of worship such as prevailed before idol- 
atrous corruptions were w T idely diffused. 
Whatever view one takes of the imagery 
of this book, it must be understood that 
its representation of Satan's presence 
and power accords with the belief of the 
times, and stands forth approved of God. 
He appears here not as a myth, nor as a 
personification, but as a veritable agent, 
acting a part in keeping with the char- 
acter he bears as the enemy of God and 
men. " When the sons of God came to 
present themselves before the Lord, 
Satan came also among them." If in 



THE CRISIS. 67 

this representation there is somewhat of 
dramatic dressing, it harmonizes well 
with Oriental thought, and expresses 
the real character and habit of Satan. 
Recognizing his presence, the Lord said 
unto him: "Whence comest thou?" 
The answer comes as from one conscious 
of the folly of evasion in the presence of 
his interrogator : " Then Satan answered 
the Lord and said, From going to and 
fro in the earth, and from walking up 
and down in it." The Lord makes no 
dissent, and no hint is found that this 
was a false answer ; nor is there any 
suggestion in the answer, or out of it, 
that Satan's real dwelling-place was in 
some far-off world, or that his visits to 
this world were occasional, extraordinary, 
or by special permission. The fact that 
God gave him special permission to 
touch Job's prosperity is suggestive of 
limitations of his power with reference to 



68 THE CRISIS. 

those whom God protects. His agency 
in bringing the Sabeans and the Chal- 
deans, and the fire and the wind, and 
finally the sore boils, to complete the 
calamities which befell this holy man, 
furnishes a fruitful study with regard to 
his ability to instigate wicked men and 
to control the elements of physical na- 
ture ; but our present concern is with 
his uncontradicted assertion that his 
dwelling-place is so intimately related 
to this world. While nothing can be 
affirmed on the naked word of " the 
father of lies," yet even his declaration, 
nnder circumstances where contradic- 
tion would be certain, if false, may shed 
light on questions relating to his preten- 
sions and power. His is a life of cease- 
less activity. He came " from going to 
and fro in the earth, and from walking 
up and down in it." It is not impossi- 
ble that the apostle Peter had this state- 



THE CRISIS. 69 

ment in mind when he said : u Your 
adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, 
walketh about, seeking whom he may 
devour." At the very least, this apos- 
tolic recognition of his whereabouts and 
of his habit, confirms the thought ex- 
pressed that his sphere of activity is 
here amongst men. 

CHRIST TKMPTED. 
The record of our Lord's temptation, 
after his baptism, is pertinent to the 
subject in hand. How naturally the 
presence of the devil is recognized here, 
and throughout the Gospels ! Not the 
least surprise is manifested that he 
should appear at any time or in any 
place. He comes and goes as if upon 
his native heath! After the baptism 
at the Jordan, " Jesus was led of the 
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted 
of the devil." What was really done is 
mentioned in the Scriptures as done of 



70 THE CRISIS. 

design. The discipline of the Son of 
man was not complete till the devil had 
exhausted his power of temptation upon 
him. We are not to explain his meth- 
ods. In some way he came to Jesus. 
Whether in bodily shape like a man, or 
whether in mental action alone, retain- 
ing invisibility, is indifferent to the 
present issue. He came in his own 
character as the tempter. Necessarily 
there is mystery in his movements. 
But he came to Jesus. The temptation 
was from without. It was not in any 
sense the action of the body, mind, 
temper, passions, or imagination of the 
Son of man himself. He was not his 
own tempter. There was nothing in 
his nature to fill such an office. The 
devil was not, therefore, an evil passion 
of human nature. Neither was he the 
personification of an abstract principle 
of evil. The evangelists who describe 



THE CRISIS, 71 

this temptation were not writing poetry. 
They recorded substantial facts for the 
common people, as well as for the 
learned, and the facts are incompatible 
with any hypothesis of temptation from 
an impersonal devil. 

After forty days of fasting, the tempta- 
tions began. Three distinct assaults are 
described. The first was an attempt 
to take advantage of a physical need, 
through a natural appetite, to induce 
an unwarranted exercise of miraculous 
power. "And when the tempter came 
to him, he said, If thou be the Son of 
God, command that these stones be 
made bread. " This suggestion, under 
the circumstances, shows discrimination 
and sagacity. Jesus repelled it at once 
by the use of Scripture : " It is written, 
Man shall not live by bread alone, but 
by every word that proceedeth out of 
the mouth of God." Foiled in this 



72 THE CRISIS. 

attempt, the devil resorts to the weapon 
by which his first assault had been de- 
feated. He quotes Scripture. " Then 
the devil taketh him up into the city, 
and setteth him on a pinnacle of the 
temple, and said unto him, If thou be 
the Son of God, cast thyself down, for 
it is written, He shall give his angels 
charge concerning thee, and in their 
hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any 
time thou dash thy foot against a stone." 
The promptness of the repulse appears 
in the brevity of the record: " Jesus said 
unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt 
not tempt the Lord thy God." From 
this reply it was evident to the tempter 
that this man would do nothing rash or 
presumptuous. His next effort was an 
appeal to what in most men of strength 
is their most vulnerable point, their love 
of power and dominion : " Then the 
devil taketh him up into an exceeding 



THE CRISIS. 73 

high mountain, and sheweth him all the 
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of 
them ; and saith unto him, All these 
things will I give thee — for that is de- 
livered unto me, and to whomsoever I 
will, I give it — if thou wilt fall down and 
worship me." Then, in reply to this 
open proposal, the climax of effrontery, 
came from Jesus the word of authority 
and power which ended the contest: 
" Get thee hence, Satan ; for it is written, 
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
and him only shalt thou serve." 

One of the troubles encountered in 
studying this mysterious conflict be- 
tween Christ and Satan arises from an 
almost irrepressible desire to understand 
the mode of the processes declared. 
One naturally asks how the devil took 
the Savior of men into the mountain, 
and into the city, and how he set him 
on a pinnacle of the temple. But the 



74 THE CRISIS. 

how of these movements is not revealed. 
Whether they were merely transporta- 
tions of the mind, or whether a physical 
movement of the body from place to 
place was meant, or whether supernat- 
ural power removed the persons to the 
points named, may be well left among 
the unexplained incidents of the trans- 
action. The great facts of the tempta- 
tion are given without any attempt to 
make known the mode of the facts. The 
audacious assault was made upon the 
integrity of the Son of man, and it was 
promptly and effectually repelled. 

Sometimes the remark has been made 
that when Satan offered to give to Christ 
all the kingdoms of the world and the 
glory of thein, he was indulging a bit 
of vain boasting, as he was promising 
what was not his own, and what he had 
no power to convey. This, however, is 
not so clear. He had by usurpation 



THE CRISIS. 75 

acquired control of " the vain pomp and 
glory of this world," and had so far sub- 
jected it to himself, that, in throwing off 
his yoke, and in avowing allegiance to 
Christ, in baptism, it is necessary to 
renounce the devil and all his works, 
the vain pomp and glory of this world, 
and the carnal desires of the flesh. 
These are all of his kingdom. Proof is 
not wanting that he holds dominion in 
the high places of the earth. In courts 
of royalty his power is next to supreme. 
If love of worldliness is opposition to 
God, then the devil exults in the palaces 
of kings. If tyranny is hateful to God, 
the places of worldly power are the de- 
light of the enemy of righteousness. If 
the lust of lucre is inimical to holiness, 
Satan has his seat in municipal govern- 
ments. Alas! it is too true that " the 
prince of the devils" is a the prince of 
this world." His throne and kingdom 



76 THE CRISIS. 

are here — here by usurpation, but here 
in fact as a reigning power. 

THE DEVIL IN PARABLES. 

The parables of our Lord can not be 
interpreted without the recognition of 
the presence and power of the devil in 
this world. Two in particular will illus- 
trate this declaration. Read the parable 
of the Sower and the Seed, with the 
Lord's own exposition of it. Bear in 
mind, also, that the exposition is not 
parable, but plain, literal truth. It is 
too common, when one finds in the par- 
ables unwelcome doctrine, to say: u O, 
well, it is only a parable, and perhaps 
we do not get its meaning. " Nothing 
of the kind can occur here ; for the 
exposition of the parable removes all 
uncertainty as to its meaning: " The 
seed is the word of God. Those by the 
wayside are those that hear; then 
cometh the devil, and taketh away the 



THE CRISIS. 77 

word out of their hearts, lest they should 
believe and be saved." The activity 
and vigilance of the devil is the basal 
thought. Wherever the gospel of the 
kingdom is preached, there is the devil 
ready to intercept the truth, or to coun- 
teract it by diverting attention, or filling 
the mind with other things. Not that 
the devil is everywhere, as if omni- 
present ; but there are legions of them, 
all alert and intensely earnest in oppos- 
ing the work of God. Read, also, the 
parable of the Tares of the Field. It is 
a parable, but it has a meaning : " The 
kingdom of heaven is likened unto a 
man which sowed good seed in his field ; 
but while men slept, his enemy came 
and sowed tares among the wheat, and 
went his way. But when the blade was 
sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then 
appeared the tares also. So the servants 
of the householder came and said unto 



78 THE CRISIS. 

him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed 
in thy field? From whence then hath 
it tares ? He said unto them, An enemy 
hath done this. The servants said unto 
him, Wilt thou then that we go and 
gather them up? But he said, Nay; 
lest while ye gather up the tares ye root 
up also the wheat with them. Let both 
grow together until the harvest : and in 
the time of harvest I will say to the 
reapers, Gather ye together first the 
tares, and bind them in bundles to burn 
them; but gather the wheat into my 
barn." Now for the meaning of this 
parable. It is neither guess-work nor 
inference ; nor is it conjecture. It is 
given by the Divine authority, with 
every element of uncertainty eliminated. 
The multitude who heard the parable had 
dispersed, and the disciples came to him 
in the house, and said to him, " Declare 
unto us the parable of the tares of the 



THE CRISIS. 79 

field. " "He answered and said unto 
them, He that soweth the good seed is 
the Son of man ; the field is the world ; 
the good seed are the children of the 
kingdom ; but the tares are the children 
of the wicked one ; the enemy that sowed 
them is the devil ; the harvest is the end 
of the world ; and the reapers are the 
angels. As therefore the tares are gath- 
ered and burned in the fire : so shall it 
be in the end of this world. The Son 
of man shall send forth his angels, and 
they shall gather out of his kingdom all 
things that offend, and them which do 
iniquity ; and shall cast them into a 
furnace of fire : there shall be wailing 
and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the 
righteous shine forth as the sun in the 
kingdom of their Father. Who hath 
ears to hear, let him hear." 

When the Lord talked thus to his dis- 
ciples, to whom was to be committed 



8o THE CRISIS. 

the task of unfolding the mysteries of 
his kingdom after his departure from 
earth, he threw off the covering and dra- 
pery of the parable, and spoke plainly, 
pointedly, and literally, of the agencies 
of evil to be encountered in the world, 
and of the outcome of the world-wide 
and age-lasting conflict. By no possi- 
ble interpretation can his words be made 
to mean anything other than that " the 
field is the world.' ' It is just as literally 
true that "the v tares are the children of 
the wicked one." Nor can there be any 
propriety in trying to modify the words, 
"The enemy that sowed them is the 
devil." Satanic agency in the wicked- 
ness of human lives could not be more 
positively asserted in human speech. 

DEVIL WORSHIP. 
Another illustration of the dominion 
of the devil in this world, showing the 
height of his presumptuous claims as its 



THE CRISIS. 8 1 

ruling "prince," is found in the fact 
that, as the ambitious rival of the Deity, 
he delights in being worshiped, and 
appropriates to himself all the worship 
paid to idols and false divinities. This 
dominant ambition displayed itself when, 
at the climax of his supreme audacity, 
he proposed that the Son of man should 
fall down and w° rs hip him. He is the 
presiding divinity in every pagan temple 
on the earth, the god of every idolatrous 
altar and shrine. To him are offered 
the sacrifices and the incense of all the 
false worship of the ages. Not that he 
is always known, or that the honors paid 
to idols are consciously intended for him 
by the worshipers ; that is not necessary 
to his purpose or scheme. He delights in 
the false ; he revels in the deceptions and 
ignorance of his victims ; he gloats over 
the impurities and degradation of men. 
His sphere is darkness and his reign is 



82 THE CRISIS. 

death. Why, then, should he seek to 
be known? That is not his aim. He 
is worshiped in ignorance, and delights 
in service not his own, except so far as 
whatever is false and impure is his. 

In the book of Deuteronomy we read : 
"But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked; 
thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, 
thou art covered with fatness ; then he 
forsook God which made him, and lightly 
esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 
They provoked him to jealousy with 
strange gods, with abominations pro- 
voked they him to anger. They sacri- 
ficed unto devils, not to God; to gods 
whom they knew not, to new gods that 
came newly up, whom your fathers feared 
not." (Deut. xxxii, 15-17.) "And they 
shall no more offer their sacrifices unto 
devils, after whom they have gone a 
whoring. This shall be a statute for- 
ever unto them throughout their gener- 



THE CRISIS. 83 

ations." (L,eviticus xvii, 7.) When the 
psalmist summed up the faults of the 
people of Israel in their apostasies, he 
said: "They were mingled with the 
heathen, and learned their works. And 
they served idols which were a snare 
unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their 
sons and their daughters unto devils, and 
shed innocent blood, even the blood of 
their sons and of their daughters, whom 
they saacrificed unto the idols of Ca- 
naan." (Psalm cvi, 35-38.) Among the 
heinous sins of Jeroboam and his sons, 
the fact is recorded that they " cast off 
the Levites from being priests unto the 
lyord, and he ordained him priests for 
the high places, and for the devils, and 
for the calves which he had made." 
(2 Chron. xi, 15.) 

It will be claimed that these Old Tes- 
tament records, which were intended to 
portray the baseness and degradation of 



84 THE CRISIS. 

the worshipers of idols, regard all idols 
as devils, because the divinities repre- 
sented by the idols were rivals of the 
God of Israel, and were therefore adver- 
saries, or devils, in the estimation of the 
loyal worshipers of the living God. This 
is certainly true, but it is not the whole 
truth. These idols were not called 
devils because they were dumb and 
senseless, nor because they drew away 
the people after them. The thought is 
not conveyed that devils are nothing 
more than these stupid blocks of wood 
and stone. The idol stood for a divinity 
that was not seen ; for an invisible 
agency, with intelligence and power and 
activity; for an unseen force, which was 
gifted in bewitching and corrupting the 
people, doing for them and with them 
the things which the Scriptures uni- 
formly ascribe to fallen angels or devils. 
It was therefore natural to speak of idols 



THE CRISIS. 85 

as devils, and of idol-worship as devil- 
worship. He who blinds and deceives 
men, and leads them into corrupted and 
corrupting worship, is the devil. 

The Apostle Paul took a realistic view 
of this subject, and without hesitation or 
reservation pronounced all idol-worship 
devil-worship: " Behold Israel after the 
flesh : are not they which eat of the sac- 
rifices partakers of the altar? What say 
I then? that the idol is anything, or that 
which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any- 
thing ? But I say, that the things which 
the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to 
devils, and not to God: and I would not 
that ye should have fellowship with devils. 
Ye can not drink the cup of the Lord, 
and the cup of devils: ye can not be 
partakers of the Lord's table, and of the 
table of devils." (1 Cor. x, 18-21.) The 
apostle was neither dramatic nor rhetor- 
ical in this appeal; but earnest, terse, 



86 THE CRISIS. 

and nervous in his utterance, evidently 
feeling that the subject in hand required 
plainness and strength, rather than or- 
nament. " Fellowship with devils" was 
not to be tolerated, and yet that dread- 
ful thing stood before him as a menace 
to the work of God. It was a living 
danger, not to receive dallying, but de- 
nunciation; and yet in expressing the 
indignation within him, he must avoid 
conceding that the idol was anything in 
itself. Whatever the idol was, or what- 
ever its name or form, or whatever it 
expressed in symbol to the worshiper, in 
the apostle's enlightened conception the 
devil was behind the idol, and claimed 
the honor and the adoration, and his was 
the fellowship. The altar and the sac- 
rifice were his — his, in fact, because they 
were false and corrupting, and his be- 
cause of his instigation. Thus it is with 
all idolatries, whether formal or informal, 



THE CRISIS. 87 

whether visible or invisible, whether ma- 
terial or spiritual, whether in heathen or 
in Christian lands. He whose worship 
is false, worships only the devil. 

In the record of the disasters which 
follow the sounding of the sixth trum- 
pet, in the Apocalyptic vision, it is writ- 
ten: "And the rest of the men which 
were not killed by these plagues yet re- 
pented not of the works of their hands, 
that they should not worship devils, and 
idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and 
stone, and of wood, which neither can 
see, nor hear, nor walk." (Rev. ix, 20.) 
With their gross conceptions of the 
character of their gods, and with their 
faint perception of moral distinctions, 
and their benumbed sensibilities, it is 
scarcely strange that worshipers of idols 
fail to distinguish between good and bad 
divinities, and think only of powers sup- 
posed to be able to harm them in anger, 



88 THE CRISIS. 

and able to favor them if propitiated by 
sacrifice. With them, divinities and 
devils are nearly related. Their gods at 
best are scarcely better than devils, and 
their worship is such as devils approve. 
The moral natures of men absorbed in 
the pursuit of gold, worshiping only at 
the shrine of mammon, become as mor- 
bid and sensual, as obtuse to spiritual 
things, and as thoroughly deadened to 
the claims of righteousness, as those 
who worship images made of gold, or 
silver, or stone, or wood. While they 
would scout the intimation as preposter- 
ous and offensive, they are in fact wor- 
shipers of idols and devils. 

DELIVERED FROM SATAN. 
Another fact which declares with 
marked emphasis the power of Satan 
over human souls is, that in the Scrip- 
tures the conversion of a sinner is re- 
garded, in every instance, as a soul de- ' 



THE CRISIS. 89 

livered from the dominion of the devil. 
This appears in the commission given 
the Apostle Paul at the time of his own 
conversion. His fullest statement of the 
scope of his commission is found in his 
address delivered in the presence of 
Agrippa, Acts xxvi, 15-18: "And I said, 
Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I 
am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But 
rise, and stand upon thy feet : for I have 
appeared unto thee for this purpose, to 
make thee a minister and a witness both 
of these things which thou hast seen, 
and of those things in which I will ap- 
pear unto thee; delivering thee from 
the people, and from the Gentiles, unto 
whom now I send thee, to open their 
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto 
God, that they may receive forgiveness 
of sins, and inheritance among them 
which are sanctified by faith that is in 



90 THE CRISIS. 

ine." No grander conception of the 
gospel ministry was ever expressed in 
human speech. Its aim is to "turn men 
from darkness to light, from the power 
of Satan unto God." Before the gospel 
reaches them, they are in "darkness," 
and under "the power of Satan." The 
gospel of God is light, a light shining 
in darkness, banishing ignorance, super- 
stition, and unbelief. It is also the gos- 
pel of power. It breaks the bonds in 
which Satan holds his captives, and * 
gives them freedom. It lifts them out 
of death into life. After exercising this 
commission till full proof was made of 
it, this apostle exultingly describes the 
result of his ministry: "Giving thanks 
unto the Father, which hath made us 
meet to be partakers of the inheritance 
of the saints in light ; who hath de- 
livered us from the power of darkness, 
and hath translated us into the kingdom 



THE CRISIS. 91 

of his dear Son : in whom we have re- 
demption through his blood, even the 
forgiveness of sins." Here are the bless- 
ings he was commissioned to bear to the 
Gentiles. Under his preaching they 
were "turned from darkness to light, 
from the power of Satan unto God," and 
fitted for this higher fellowship and this 
nobler inheritance. From being slaves 
to the devil, they become the Lord's 
freemen. 

A leading truth, firmly grasped, sheds 
light on incidental and subordinate mat- 
ters which are enveloped in deep ob- 
scurity when standing alone. The doc- 
trine that Satan rules in the kingdom of 
darkness, in which the ungodly abide, 
illustrates what is otherwise difficult of 
interpretation in the apostolic Church. 
Paul speaks of persons excommunicated 
or cut off from the fellowship of the 
Church for open wickedness, as "de- 



92 THE CRISIS, 

livered unto Satan." After the fail- 
ure to reform or correct their lives by 
proper instruction and discipline, they 
were pronounced incorrigible, and given 
up as hopeless. They were simply 
abandoned to their former state. The 
ecclesiastical withdrawal of the fellow- 
ship of the Church was the act of de- 
livering the offender over to Satan. 
The expression is strong; for the act 
was one of deep solemnity, and meant 
much to those whose views of the 
powers of darkness accorded with the 
Scriptures. 

The apostle's description of the qual- 
ification and work of a minister follows 
in this line, implying the same thing. 
Its incidental testimony is not less con- 
vincing because incidental: "And the 
servant of the Lord must not strive; 
but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, 
patient; in meekness instructing those 



THE CRISIS. 93 

that oppose themselves; if God perad- 
venture will give them repentance to 
the acknowledging of the truth; and 
that they may recover themselves out of 
the snare of the devil, who are taken 
captive by him at his will." (2 Tim. 
ii, 24-26.) All who resist the truth, 
" oppose themselves.'' They stand in 
their own light; they disregard their 
highest interests, while thinking to serve 
themselves; their spiritual vision is ob- 
structed by overhanging clouds of world- 
liness. Moreover, they are in "the snare 
of the devil." These are strong words, 
much too strong to be meaningless. 
Behind them there is a condition, a 
moral estate, abnormal it may be, but a 
veritable condition of thralldom, in 
which the soul is held as a prisoner in 
the hands of an adversary. It is "taken 
captive by him at his will." Thus are 
all the unsaved. They are under the 



94 THE CRISIS. 

dominion^ of the devil, and can only 
" recover themselves " by " repentance 
to the acknowledging of the truth. " 

It is thought by some to be a sort of 
illiberal species of bigotry to assign all 
the unsaved to the kingdom of dark- 
ness, and to regard wicked men as being 
under the power of the devil. This 
may be done sometimes in the spirit of 
bigotry; but it is well to be sure who 
does it, and in what spirit, before per- 
mitting indignation to burn against it 
with consuming heat. To whose king- 
dom do the wicked belong? The be- 
loved apostle, whose spirit was richly 
imbued with the love of the Master 
and with love to men, said: "In this the 
children of God are manifest, and the 
children of the devil: whosoever doeth 
not righteousness is not of God, neither 
he that loveth not his brother." Nor is 
this language any stronger than that 



THE CRISIS. 95 

used by the Savior himself. The Jews 
said to Jesus: "We have one Father, 
even God." This is the chief delusion 
of the unregenerate. They assume that 
they can be God's children without be- 
ing born again. Jesus flatly denied their 
claim in this respect, and once for all 
condemned such pretensions. He said, 
in reply: "If God were your Father, ye 
would love me: for I proceeded forth 
and came from God; neither came I of 
myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not 
understand my speech? even because ye 
can not hear my word. Ye are of your 
father the devil, and the lusts of your 
father ye will do." (John viii, 41-44.) 
If it be true that "the tares are the chil- 
dren of the wicked one," and if, as the 
beloved disciple has said, "Whosoever 
committeth sin is of the devil," and if 
the prince of the devils rules in the em- 
pire of darkness, then to look upon the 



96 THE CRISIS. 

race of ungodly men as belonging to the 
kingdom of the devil, is not going be- 
yond the clearest possible Scripture 
warrant; and any charge of narrowness 
or bigotry which this position involves, 
lies with full force against the Lord him- 
self and his holy apostles. 

The Jews to whom Christ talked so 
plainly were typical men in some re- 
spects. They were not atheists ; neither 
were they profligates. After their fash- 
ion they were religious. They were lin- 
eal descendants of Abraham, and within 
the covenant in the literal sense; but 
spiritual blindness was upon them. 
Their claim was: "We have one Father, 
even God." It was no doubt very ab- 
rupt and extremely offensive when the 
Lord said to them: "Ye are of your 
father the devil." ' Their "liberalism" 
was shocked. He was too literal! Paul 
found one of this kind on the island of 



THE CRISIS, 97 

Cyprus — one who opposed the apostle, 
and tried to turn the deputy, a convert, 
away from the faith. The Spirit of God 
came upon the apostle, and, moved by 
a sacred impulse, Paul u set his eyes on 
him," and pronounced such words as a 
desperate case demanded: "O, full of all 
subtilty and all mischief, thou child of 
the devil, thou enemy of all righteous- 
ness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the 
right ways of the L,ord?" Such plain- 
ness of speech appears to many to be 
quite illiberal. No doubt Ely mas 
thought Paul a bigot! But the blind- 
ness which fell on his natural vision 
was the fit symbol of the state of his 
mind with regard to the things of God. 
Truth is not the less truth because 
unwelcome. Wicked men are none the 
less certainly the children of the devil 
because they do not like to believe it. 
False teachers can afford to be liberal, 
7 



98 THE CRISIS. 

They are always broad. Like the mas- 
ter they serve, they have no fondness for 
any " narrow way." As there were false 
prophets of old, so were there " false 
apostles " in the days of the apostles, 
" deceitful workers, transforming them- 
selves into the apostles of Christ. And 
no marvel: for Satan himself is trans- 
formed into an angel of light. There- 
fore it is no great thing if his ministers 
be transformed as the ministers of right- 
eousness; whose end shall be according 
to their works." (2 Cor. xi, 14, 15.) 
Ministers of Satan, transformed into 
ministers of righteousness, never claim 
for Satan what is his own. In this they 
are singular among men, but in harmony 
with their master. Satan does not wish 
to be known, and his agents never pro- 
claim his presence or his power. He 
works in the darkness, and hates the 



THE CRISIS. 99 

light. His ministers please him by de- 
nying him, and denying his existence; 
therefore they are never heard warning 
men, as did the apostles of Christ, "lest 
they fall into the condemnation of the 
devil. " Of all men they are the most 
"liberal," the most advanced in lines of 
worldly thought, the most prompt to 
disclaim against bondage to creeds, and 
the readiest to assure the devotees of 
pleasure and sin that there is neither 
devil nor danger. God's prophet Ezekiel 
had to do with such teachers in his day, 
and his burning words of denunciation 
apply with undiminished force fo all 
who deal with God's Word deceitfully: 
"Because with lies ye have made the 
righteous sad, whom I have not made 
sad; and strengthened the hands of the 
wicked, that he should not return from 
his wicked way, by promising him life!" 



IOO THE CRISIS. 

THE DEVIL WARS WITH BELIEVERS. 

The next fact to be noticed has spe- 
cial significance in this study. It is, 
that the devil pursues believers after 
they are converted, making the Chris- 
tian life a continuous conflict with spir- 
itual foes, as well as with the infirmities 
of the flesh and the allurements of the 
world. 

The disciples of Christ were assailed 
by the devil from the beginning. To 
Simon Peter the Master said: " Satan 
hath desired to have you, that he might 
sift you as wheat; but I have prayed 
for thee, that thy faith fail not." It 
was a case of special peril, which the 
Savior foresaw, and in view of which he 
forewarned his servant, and forearmed 
him for the conflict, the memory of 
which warning must have flashed upon 
Peter's mind with peculiar power when 
the reproving lopk of Jesus arrested his 



THE CRISIS. IOI 

attention after his wretched denial. The 
event illustrates the devil's vigilance 
and the Savior's solicitude. The same 
evil power was successful with one of 
the twelve. The apostasy of Judas and 
his betrayal of Christ must be ascribed 
to Satanic influence: " After the sop, 
Satan entered into him." The disciples 
at Rome were in sore trials when the 
Apostle Paul comforted them with the 
assurance that the "God of peace shall 
bruise Satan under your feet shortly." 
He also himself found it necessary to be 
on his guard against the machinations 
of the devil, as he expressed the danger: 
"Lest Satan should get an advantage of 
us; for we are not ignorant of his de- 
vices." On one occasion, when he had 
been unable to accomplish a cherished 
purpose, which was to visit Thessalonica, 
he attributed his failure to the fact that 
"Satan hindered us." This apostle's 



102 THE CRISIS. 

writings teem with recognitions of the 
industry and power of the great adver- 
sary, and of the necessity of watchful- 
ness on the part of Christians in order 
to avoid his interruptions; and yet they 
abound with expressions of perfect con- 
fidence in the ability of Christ to keep 
his people in safety from all the blan- 
dishments and evil schemes of this ma- 
lignant foe. His descriptions of the 
reigning power of the devil tend to en- 
hance the value of the Christian's tri- 
umph by faith. He wavers not, nor 
would he have any one falter because of 
any power Satan possesses in this world. 
The burden of his thought accords with 
the words of the Apostle James: " Re- 
sist the devil, and he will flee from you." 
The apostle gives us his fullest por- 
trayal of the believer's conflicts with the 
powers of darkness, in his Epistle to the 
Ephesians. It is well to study the pic- 



THE CRISIS. 103 

ture in its lights and shades, in its scope 
and in its terms. We shall find in it the 
ring of battle and the shout of victory: 
" Finally, my brethren, be strong in the 
Lord, and in the power of his might. 
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye 
may be able to stand against the wiles 
of the devil. For we wrestle not against 
flesh and blood, but against principali- 
ties, against powers, against the rulers 
of the darkness of this world, against 
spiritual wickedness in high places ;" 
or, as in the margin, and more literal, 
" against wicked spirits on high." This 
whole conflict is with invisible forces, 
all external to the one who battles 
against them, capable of assault, of 
"wiles," schemes, and devices, for the 
purpose of carrying out a nefarious pur- 
pose. "That ye may stand against the 
wiles of the devil." As the chief adver- 
sary he plans the battle ; he marshals 



104 THE CRISIS. 

the forces and forms the combinations. 
The rulers of the darkness of this world, 
the wicked spirits on high, forming prin- 
cipalities and powers, all move at his 
command. 

This one phrase includes all the spir- 
itual enemies of the believer, the other 
parts of the passage being explanatory or 
subordinate to this. "The wiles of the 
devil!" How suggestive these words! 
They indicate personality, shrewdness, 
skill, strategy, and power. This devil 
is, therefore, neither an abstraction nor 
a figure of speech. Nor yet is he a hu- 
man passion. He is no part of c< flesh 
and blood. " The negative points in this 
description are full of meaning : " We 
wrestle not against flesh and blood." 
This is as definite as it is comprehensive. 
It is not a physical warfare. The words 
mean this and more. They mean that 
the opposition comes from outside of hu- 



THE CRISIS. 105 

man nature. All the human agencies 
and forces of evil are included in the 
words " flesh and blood ;" but here are 
enemies which are not " flesh and blood." 
They are not merely spiritual, but they 
are " spirits," " wicked spirits on high." 
They are in combination against good, 
under the leadership of the " prince of 
the devils." This invisible chieftain 
musters the wicked spirits of the uni- 
verse, forms them into " principalities 
and powers," constitutes them " the 
rulers of the darkness of this world," 
and leads them forth to assail the Church 
of Christ, and to conquer individual be- 
lievers. Wicked men, and sometimes 
civil and municipal governments, join in 
the fight against righteousness, becom- 
ing the unconscious instruments of un- 
seen forces ; but their agency is not 
that which the apostle here recognizes. 
All visible agencies, all purely human 



106 THE CRISIS. 

powers, all human passions, combina- 
tions, governments, machinations, and 
animosities, are embraced in the phrase 
" flesh and blood." The fight is not 
against these, except as these are insti- 
gated, directed, and used by the devil, 
whose " wiles" take in the employment 
of all instrumentalities available for his 
purposes. He employs instruments, and 
he reaches the soul through the senses 
of the body, and through the passions of 
the flesh, and through the infirmities of 
corrupted human nature ; but it is a mis- 
take to regard that which is an instru- 
ment as an agent, or the avenues of the 
devil's approach to the soul, as the devil 
himself. 

In this warfare against the devil and 
his " wiles" and devices, we need the 
armor which the gospel provides. It is 
a defensive battle in which the child of 
God contends for his faith and his inher- 



THE CRISIS. 107 

itance. " The weapons of our warfare 
are not carnal, but mighty through God 
to the pulling down of strongholds.'' 
These spiritual weapons are graphically 
described by the apostle: " Wherefore 
take unto you the whole armor of God, 
that ye may be able to withstand in the 
evil day, and having done all to stand. 
Stand therefore, having your loins girt 
about with truth, and having on the 
breastplate of righteousness ; and your 
feet shod with the preparation of the 
gospel of peace, and above all, taking 
the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall 
be able to quench all the fiery darts of 
the wicked. And take the helmet of 
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, 
which is the Word of God; praying 
always with all prayer and supplication 
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto 
with all supplication for all saints." 
Why all this spiritual armor, this watch- 



108 7 HE CRISIS. 

ing, praying, and continual vigilance, it 
there be no spiritual foes outside of hu- 
man nature? If the devil is a myth, 
and his " wiles " only a figure of speech, 
why has the Church been taught through 
the ages to watch, and fight, and pray, 
as if pursued by invisible spiritual foes, 
intent upon the destruction of every one 
whose faith falters? 

THE LAST CONFLICT. 
The scene of the devil's last conflict, 
and his ultimate overthrow, is laid in 
this world. It is in the book of Reve- 
lation, highly figurative or symbolical 
in the terms employed in the descrip- 
tion, yet in scope and meaning quite 
in harmony with all that has been said 
herein. The "war in heaven" appears 
to be the theme; but that "war" was 
soon transferred to earth, and here be- 
neath the clouds, where sin has so long 
held sway, the battle rages till the end : 



THE CRISIS. 109 

"And there was war in heaven: Michael 
and his angels fought against the dragon; 
and the dragon fought and his angels, 
and prevailed not; neither was their 
place found any more in heaven. And 
the great dragon was cast out, that old 
serpent called the devil, and Satan, 
which deceiveth the whole world; he 
was cast out into the earth, and his an- 
gels were cast out with him." (Rev. 
xii, 7-9.) However much of the figura- 
tive may be found in this language, the 
fact is plain that the "great dragon" 
is called the devil and Satan, and he 
deceiveth the whole world. His contest 
with the angels has been given up, as 
he is banished from their realm, that he 
may engage all his forces in warfare 
against the Church on earth. This is 
now his sphere. "He was cast out into 
the earth, and his angels were cast out 
with him." 



IIO THE CRISIS. 

In this same chapter we read further : 
"And I heard a loud voice saying in 
heaven, Now is come salvation, and 
strength, and the kingdom of our God, 
and the power of his Christ; for the 
accuser of our brethren is cast down, 
which accused them before God day and 
night. And they overcame him by the 
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of 
their testimony; and they loved not 
their lives unto the death. Therefore 
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in 
them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth 
and of the sea! for the devil is come 
down unto you, having great wrath, 
because he knoweth that he hath but 
a short time." Symbol or no symbol, 
there is truth in this passage. "Woe to 
the inhabiters of the earth!" Sad the 
day when there was cause for this 
"woe." "For the devil is come down 
unto you !" In the light of all that has 



THE CRISIS. Ill 

gone before, further exposition is need- 
less. This world is now the battle-field. 
Wherever the war began, it is to be 
fought out here. Here Satan has his 
seat; here he has obtained dominion, 
and here he reigns, "the prince of this 
world ;" and here all the forces of his 
kingdom are gathered, "the rulers of 
the darkness of this world," making 
their final struggle for the mastery. 
The prize is the control of the human 
race. For this prize every energy of the 
kingdom of darkness is enlisted. 

This battle has been going on ever 
since the beginning of human history. 
It was inaugurated in Eden when the 
devil whispered, "Thou shalt not surely 
die." In the opening assault he carried 
the citadel of righteousness, and en- 
throned himself as "the prince of this 
world." Here he has remained. Under 
his sway idolatry has risen and flour- 



112 THE CRISIS. 

ished; superstition has taken the place 
of piety; sensuality has dominated, and 
man's enmity has turned against his 
kind, making the dark places of the 
earth the habitations of cruelty. The 
earth is the charnel-house of the nations 
and of the ages ; the seat of war for the 
universe ; the one spot in creation where 
sin abounds, and death blasts the life of 
all that live. The devil and his angels 
are here walking the earth unseen, 
mingling with the affairs of men, inciting 
evil passions, instigating unholy ambi- 
tions, wars, robberies, oppressions, and 
all disorders; employing every agency 
and instrumentality that can be used for 
the purpose of filling the earth with 
wretchedness and woe. Christians of 
the former generation portrayed this 
relentless warfare none too strongly 
when they sang: 



THE CRISIS. 113 

"Angels our march oppose, 

Who still in strength excel, 
Our secret, sworn, eternal foes, 

Countless, invisible; 
From thrones of glory driven, 

By flaming vengeance hurled, 
They throng the air and darken heaven, 

And rule this lower world." 

Accepting, as we must, this Scriptural 
representation of the kingdom of dark- 
ness in its relation to this world, we see 
the reason why the incarnation of the 
Son of God was here, and not in some 
other world. " For this purpose the Son 
of God was manifested, that he might 
destroy the works of the devil." He 
came to grapple the usurper in his 
stronghold, where his temporary tri- 
umph was the greatest. He came here, 
where Satan has his home and king- 
dom ; where are all the hosts of sin ; 
where, as " prince of this world," his 
reign of darkness has been so long con- 



114 THE crisis. 

tinued. Here, too, is the human race, 
the object of the devil's sorest hate and 
of heaven's deepest solicitude. Right 
here in the battle-field of the universe, 
in the center of the conflict, in the very 
heart of the devil's kingdom, and bear- 
ing the nature over which the arch- 
enemy had achieved his greatest victory, 
came the Son of man to redeem the 
fallen race, to break the power of Satan, 
bruise his head, and ultimately to cast 
him out. This conflict, which began 
in Eden, culminated at Calvary. The 
crisis came when the Son of God was 
lifted up from the earth. That was the 
turning-point. Till then was " the hour 
and power of darkness." In that hour 
Satan bruised the heel of the seed of 
the woman, and the seed of the woman 
bruised his head. The victory was 
assured when, on the morning of the 
third day, the Son of man proclaimed, 



THE CRISIS, 115 

" I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, 
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; 
and have the keys of hell and of death." 
That shout of victory echoed through 
all the worlds, and rings down through 
the ages. The crisis is past! The 
work of redemption is complete. " Now 
shall the prince of this world be cast 
out." 

This act of redemption laid the foun- 
dation for the kingdom of God upon 
earth. It fulfilled promise and prophesy, 
and provided for the overthrow of Satan's 
kingdom ; for the ultimate casting out of 
"the prince of this world, " whose reign 
was a usurpation, and whose power was 
the curse of man. 

The prince of this world hath nothing 
in Christ. There is nothing in com- 
mon between these two. "What con- 
cord hath Christ with Belial ?" Their 
kingdoms are antagonistic. As dark- 



Il6 THE CRISIS. 

ness recedes before the advancing light, 
so with the coming of the kingdom of 
Christ the reign of "the prince of this 
world' ' passes away. While the provis- 
ion for this final conquest is complete, 
and the result assured, the actual cast- 
ing out of Satan is gradual and pro- 
gressive. The soul of man is the area 
of the spiritual empire. When Christ 
is enthroned within, the evil prince is 
cast out. As one after another accepts 
Christ and is born into the kingdom, 
the kingdom of darkness suffers loss. 

This work of translation from one 
kingdom into another has been going 
on through the ages. It is an individ- 
ual experience. It requires the concur- 
rence of the human will. Coercion is 
impossible. Force has no place in the 
contest. Progress is therefore slow, and 
sometimes the outcome appears uncer- 
tain. Herein is revealed the sphere of 



THE CRISIS. 117 

faith. All power is given unto the Son, 
who is able to conquer, and whose tri- 
umph is assured. The work of conver- 
sion will go on — the work of rescue — till 
the kingdoms of this world are become 
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
Christ. ' l He shall not fail nor be discour- 
aged till he have set judgment in the 
earth." " For he must reign till he hath 
put all enemies under his feet." What 
was done provisionally in Christ's death, 
must be accomplished in fact through 
the power of his Spirit. The works of 
the devil must be destroyed as the final 
moral achievement. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the 
ordained instrumentality for this work, 
and the Holy Spirit is the efficient agent. 
The subjugation of evil is essentially a 
divine work, yet one which God carries 
forward mainly through human instru- 
mentalities, giving to man, redeemed 



Il8 THE CRISIS. 

from thralldom to sin and Satan an 
honorable part in the battle and in the 
triumph. Every convert becomes a sol- 
dier in this war, enlisted under the ban- 
ner of the cross, and to every victor there 
is a crown. While the achievement is 
not by might nor by human power, but 
by the Spirit of the Lord, yet the part 
assigned to human agency is worthy of 
the noblest efforts that Christian faitK 
can inspire. It is man doing God's work 
in God's name and through his power. 
The result is the dethronement of Sa- 
tan, the casting out of "the prince of 
this world " from his usurped dominion, 
the emancipation of the nations from his 
long and cruel sway, and the uplifting 
of humanity to its rightful plane of life. 
It means the restoration of God's own 
life to human souls, the recovery of their 
powers from spiritual bondage to the 
noblest freedom through regeneration. 



THE CRISIS. 119 

It means the destruction of idolatry and 
superstition, the removal of tyranny and 
oppression from human governments, 
the banishment of deception and fraud 
from social and business relations, the 
purification of personal and domestic 
life, and the establishment of peace on 
earth and good-will towards men. In a 
word, it means the conquest of this 
world for Christ, and all the blessedness 
of his reign and kingdom, with the ban- 
ishment of the devil and his angels into 
" outer darkness, " to await their final 
doom — the doom awaiting all the en- 
emies of God, impressively symbolized 
by the "lake of fire and brimstone" 
and the "second death." 



NOTE. 

As supplementary to the foregoing, the 
following discourses or chapters on kindred 
topics are supposed to be not inappropriate. 
Indeed they seem to the author to be exactly 
in place. The doctrine of eternal retribution 
has logical relation to the existence, power, 
and doom of the devil. It must be under- 
stood, however, that the treatment of the 
themes introduced is not designed to be com- 
plete. It is purposely partial and brief, } T et it 
is believed that it touches essential points, 
and indicates a line of argument w 7 hich will 
stand in the future, as it has stood in the past, 
against the fiercest attacks the opposition can 
make. After all, there is an " eternal sin" 
and an "eternal condemnation." 

S. M. M. 
1 20 



II. 

The Unpardonable Sin. 

" Hath never forgiveness."— mark hi, 29. 
TT becomes all who believe the Scrip- 
* tures to be divine to study them, not 
only in their historical, doctrinal, and 
ethical teachings, which are easily un- 
derstood, but also in their intricate parts, 
and in what some regard as their "hard 
sayings.'' It is not to be denied that 
in the discourses of our Lord, as well as 
in the writings of the apostles, there are 
some things " hard to be understood, " 
which ignorant and superficial thinkers 
are liable to " wrest unto their own 
destruction." 

Such are the passages in which men- 
tion is made of the sin which can not be 



122 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

forgiven. While there is, and will be, 
more or less of mystery in these words, 
and while we may not be able to get 
hold of their full significance, it must 
be that a careful study of them will 
bring us to such a comprehension of 
their import as will be useful, and pos- 
sibly be the means of ministering grace 
to our hearts, and certainly prove of 
service in warning the wayward. They 
are the words of the L,ord, spoken on 
an occasion of great solemnity, and no 
doubt with an earnestness becoming 
their weight and the far-reaching results 
of their deliverance. We approach them 
reverentially, and desire to grasp the 
truth they contain with unbiased minds, 
and to give it the exact place in the 
great scheme of Christian doctrines to 
which it is entitled. 

The subject of blasphemy necessarily 
belongs to the severer aspects of the 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 23 

system of Christianity. In the nature 
of things it must have to do with the 
doctrines of retribution. In some way it 
relates to the subject of diabolical influ- 
ence and power, so that its treatment is 
not out of place in connection with a 
discourse on the existence and power of 
the devils. The word itself indicates 
the character of the offense. But for 
theological speculations concerning it 
there would be little occasion for look- 
ing beyond a proper definition of the 
term for its meaning. It is a sin usually 
expressed in words, a sin of the tongue, 
and yet the words come forth out of the 
heart, and express the condition of the 
heart. Blasphemy is found in that dark 
list of evils which the Lord said pro- 
ceed from the heart and defile the man. 
To blaspheme is to speak against ; it 
is to express opposition, ridicule, con- 
tempt. It indicates spite, hatred, or ani- 



124 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

mosity, and this state of feeling induced 
or accompanied by irreverence, so that 
while the heart is malignant, it is also 
light and superficial. Gross profanity 
is in common usage called blasphemy, 
and this designation is not inappropriate. 
He who uses the name of God flippantly 
and irreverently, makes near approaches 
to the sin of blasphemy, if he does not 
come to the full measure of this dread- 
ful offense of deriding things sacred and 
divine. In the two blasphemies men- 
tioned in the Scriptures to be considered, 
there is no intimation of any difference 
in the nature of the sin, so far as the 
outward form or expression is concerned, 
and certainly no marks are given by 
which the essence of one can be dis- 
tinguished from the other, except the 
simple fact that one is against the Son of 
man, and the other is against the Holy 
Ghost. In fact and in substance or na- 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 25 

ture, they are the same. Both are blas- 
phemy ; both are found in words spoken, 
revealing the state of the heart ; and in 
both there is the enmity and derision 
that would treat the work of God as the 
work of the devil. 

With this general statement we group 
together the passages forming the 
groundwork and substance of our study : 
" Wherefore I say unto you, All manner 
of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven 
unto men ; but the blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven 
unto men. And whosoever speaketh a 
word against the Son of man, it shall be 
forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh 
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be 
forgiven him, neither in this world, 
neither in the world to come." (Matt, 
xii, 31, 32.) " Verily I say unto you, 
All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons 
of men, and blasphemies wherewith 



126 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

soever they shall blaspheme ; but he 
that shall blaspheme against the Holy 
Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in 
danger of eternal damnation." (Mark 
iii, 28, 29.) In Luke we have the same 
thought, but seemingly in another con- 
nection: "And whosoever shall speak 
a word against the Son of man, it shall 
be forgiven him ; but unto him that 
blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it 
shall not be forgiven." (Luke xii, 10.) 
It would be presumptuous to proceed 
in the study of these Scriptures, and of 
this great theme, without considering 
what has been said by others, and said 
so clearly and with such plausibility as 
to command very general acceptance, 
becoming an accredited part of the lit- 
erature of the Church. In whatever 
way and to whatever extent w T e depart 
from the most prevalent interpretation, 
we want it understood that our position 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 27 

is taken deliberately, after weighing the 
subject in all its bearings, and under 
the best light at our command. 

The first question that interests the 
student is as to the possibility of com- 
mitting this greatest blasphemy, this un- 
pardonable offense, at the present time, 
under the dispensation of the gospel. 
The motive that inclines the minister of 
Christ to answer this question in the 
negative, if he can find ground on which 
to base such an answer, is commend- 
able in the highest degree. He is beset 
by anxious persons laboring under temp- 
tation, perplexed with doubts and fears, 
and buffeted by Satan to the border of 
despair, because of the apprehension 
that they have become guilty of this sin, 
and crossed the line of possible recovery 
to salvation. The minister feels how 
important it is to break this delusion of 
the devil, and to arouse hope in these 



128 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

anxious souls, so that he may lead them 
out of this darkness into the clear sun- 
shine of the divine promises. In his 
anxiety at this point he reads again the 
interpretation that restricts the possi- 
bility of this sin to those who witnessed 
the miracles of Christ, and obstinately 
attributed them to the devil, and he 
feels constrained to accept the interpre- 
tation, and to use it for the relief of 
those who are in distress. His own 
feelings, as well as his interest in those 
whom he would lift out of despondency, 
incline him to wish this interpretation 
might be the correct one, and with the 
wish it becomes easy to persuade him- 
self that it is even so. There is no 
doubt that this is the exact process 
through which many have reached the 
conclusion that the unpardonable sin 
belonged to the days of Christ, and can 
not be committed in our day. 



UNPARDONABLE SIN, 1 29 

Of course an opinion which has been 
so widely accepted must have something 
more than a wish behind it. There 
must be something in the wording of 
the Scriptures that looks in that direc- 
tion, and gives apparent reasonableness 
to the construction. That such is the 
fact is readily conceded. Without the 
recognition of this condition of things 
our study of the subject would be incom- 
plete. We must therefore look at the 
things which seem to countenance this 
interpretation, and see them as they are, 
and allow them all the weight that be- 
longs to them. The assumption is that 
the offense consisted in attributing the 
miracles wrought by the Son of man to 
the devil. In doing this, these obsti- 
nate Jews rejected the evidence of their 
senses, closed their eyes to the clearest 
light that could fall upon them, trifled 
with Divine testimony, and evinced the 



130 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

deepest hatred to their Benefactor. 
Their sin was great. There is no doubt 
that it was blasphemy. The question 
is not as to whether they were guilty 
of blasphemy in their contemptuous 
treatment of Christ and his works, but 
whether they, and they alone, in this ma- 
lignant hate, were guilty of blaspheming 
against the Holy Ghost. We must look 
at the whole record. 

The connection shows that the Phar- 
isees did what is alleged ; they attrib- 
uted his works to Satanic influence. 
They said : " This fellow doth not cast 
out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of 
the devils." In reply to this accusation 
Jesus said : " Every kingdom divided 
against itself is brought to desolation: 
and every city or house divided against 
itself shall not stand: and if Satan cast 
out Satan, he is divided against himself; 
how shall then his kingdom stand? And 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 131 

if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by 
whom do your children cast them out? 
Therefore they shall be your judges. 
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of 
God, then the kingdom of God is come 
unto you." This accusation and inter- 
view was the occasion of these remark- 
able utterances on the subject of blas- 
phemy; there is no doubt about that. 
Mark asserts that he spoke these things 
" because they said, He hath an unclean 
spirit." No worse accusation was ever 
brought against him ; nothing could 
have been more offensive. Yet he bore 
it without resentment. While he spoke 
plainly of results, and warned his hearers 
of the dreadfulness of their sin, he 
avoided all appearance of personal pique 
or disposition to retaliate. But he recog- 
nized their blasphemy, and dealt faith- 
fully with it. He knew that they spoke 
against him. They treated him with 



132 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

derision and contempt. In this they 
were guilty of blasphemy ; but their 
blasphemy was against himself. It was 
the lesser grade of blasphemy, so to 
speak ; the blasphemy that might be 
forgiven. This fact is clear, and it 
ought to be unquestionable, for it is 
vital to the right interpretation. 

It is strange that this fact is so gen- 
erally overlooked, while it is assumed 
that the more heinous blasphemy was 
committed in the presence of him who 
nttered these words. The Jews who 
rejected him, spoke against him and 
blasphemed, having him alone in mind 
while they burned with hatred towards 
him, thinking of no other. At best, 
they had vague conceptions of the Holy 
Ghost. He was not in their thoughts. 
His dispensation was not yet come. In 
the higher sense to which Jesus was 
training hi§ disciples to look for his man- 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 33 

ifestation, "the Holy Ghost was not yet 
given, because that Jesus was not yet 
glorified.'' Blasphemy against him 
could hardly be expected before his 
fuller revelation, to take place after the 
departure of the Son of man. Why, 
then, this admonition? Why such a 
fearful denunciation of this greater sin, 
which had not yet been committed, and 
which was as yet scarcely possible? 
The language is premonitory. This is 
the key to the mystery. The Pharisees 
were speaking against the Son of man, 
were blaspheming him, charging him 
with being in collusion with the devil, 
and the spirit that prompted them to 
this would lead them to the still greater 
sin, the blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost. So he warned them beforehand. 
His address to them was as if he had 
said: "I see the enmity of your hearts. 
You are enraged against me; you speak 



134 UNPARDONABLE SIN, 

against me with all bitterness and 
venom; you despise me, and treat me 
as an impostor, and accuse me with 
having a devil. You see my works, and 
can not deny that devils are cast out; 
but you attribute what I do to Beelze- 
bub, the prince of the devils. This is 
blasphemy. It is blasphemy against 
me — against the Son of man. It is a 
dreadful sin. It reveals a blinded, stub- 
born, malignant heart. But, mind you! 
wicked as is this blasphemy against 
me, it is less dangerous than what may 
follow. It may be forgiven. Repent- 
ance is possible. But I forewarn you! 
There is another blasphemy. I shall 
return to the Father, and the Holy 
Ghost will come; and when he is come, 
he may be spoken against. This spirit 
which you exhibit towards me will lead 
you to blaspheme against him. Who- 
soever shall speak against him, and 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 35 

blaspheme, shall not be forgiven. Be 
ye warned in time ! He that shall treat 
the Holy Ghost as yon have treated me, 
hath never forgiveness, but shall be in 
danger of eternal damnation." 

This interpretation must strike every 
one as reasonable; and it is certainly 
more in harmony with the whole situa- 
tion than is that which makes the wit- 
nesses of Christ's miracles guilty of the 
greater sin in charging him with having 
a devil. That view, so common and 
widespread, takes too little account of 
the first blasphemy — that against the 
Son of man; and it comes too nearly 
confounding the two blasphemies, leav- 
ing scarcely any room for distinguishing 
between them. Our Lord looked ahead. 
The premonitory character of his ad- 
dress must not be disregarded. He laid 
down an unchanging principle that per- 
tained especially to the period of the 



136 UNPARDONABLE SIN, 

development of the kingdom of God on 
earth, the time of the gospel, which is 
the dispensation of the Spirit. It is 
therefore proper to believe that resist- 
ance to the Holy Ghost under the gos- 
pel, when the Spirit of God does his 
most effective work, when carried to the 
point of utter rejection and malignant 
ridicule, will result in such a withdrawal 
of his presence, such an abandonment of 
the sinner to his obduracy, as to render 
him incapable of repentance, thereby 
making forgiveness impossible. The 
outward form of this sin is not described. 
Its nature is more important, and that is 
easily identified. It is resistance to the 
Spirit of God, carried to the extent of 
willful hatred and determined rejection. 
The heart of the impenitent can only 
reach the condition necessary to the 
final decision after repeated efforts, and 
after habitual resistance to the Divine 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. T37 

warnings and strivings. But as certainly- 

as it is a fact that sin blinds the heart 
and deadens the sensibilities, so certainly 
incorrigibility is possible, and reprobacy 
of mind becomes inevitable, placing the 
abandoned one outside the sphere of 
saving agencies. 

If it be said that this interpretation, 
which recognizes this terrible sin as 
possible under the gospel, leaves the 
way open for temptation to despond- 
ency, to which so many are inclined 
when they become anxious about their 
souls, the answer is, that there is a bet- 
ter way of dealing with such than de- 
ceiving them with unsound expositions 
of the Word of the Lord. We must not 
handle the Word of God deceitfully; but 
by manifestation of the truth, commend 
ourselves to every man's conscience in 
the sight of God. The fact that they 
are anxious is proof positive that they 



138 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

are not abandoned of the Spirit. This 
should be urged upon their attention, 
and the evidences of his presence should 
be so described as to overcom'e their fears 
in this respect; and the Spirit of grace, 
working in them, will melt and win them 
to penitence. 

The writings of the apostles contain 
many recognitions of the possibility and 
danger of incurring that degree of spirit- 
ual blindness and obduracy in which re- 
pentance is impossible. It is always 
held forth as the result of willfulness in 
resisting the light of truth, through the 
love of evil indulgence: u If our gospel 
be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, 
in whom the god of this world hath 
blinded the minds of them which be- 
lieve not, lest the light of the glorious 
gospel of Christ, who is the image of 
God, should shine unto them." Paul 
again recognizes this condition in these 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 139 

strong words: "This I say, therefore, and 
testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth 
walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the 
vanity of their minds, having the under- 
standing darkened, being alienated from 
the life of God through the ignorance 
that is in them, because of the blind- 
ness of their heart ; who, being past feel- 
ing, have given themselves over unto 
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness 
with greediness." Such language can 
not be understood except as descriptive 
of a moral degeneracy which excludes 
the capacity for repentance, and denotes 
the absence of gracious influences to the 
extent of abandonment to reprobacy and 
incorrigibility. That this state is sad 
beyond description is true, and that its 
possibility awakens in us emotions of 
anxiety is not to be disputed ; yet the fact 
that it so impresses us does not author- 
ize any attempt to ignore it, or to soften 



I40 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

the import of the Divine teaching with 
regard to it. The dreadfulness of sin 
can not be too darkly pictured. God 
hates sin, and he intends that its deso- 
lating blight upon the human soul shall 
be so portrayed that men shall be fully 
warned, if they will only hear the truth. 
It is a fact, not to be disregarded, that 
in the blinding and hardening process 
attributable to sin, Satan is always rec- 
ognized as an active agent. He is the 
"god of this world" that blinds the 
minds of them that believe not. It is 
he that catcheth away the word sown in 
the heart. He is "the prince of the 
power of the air, the spirit that worketh 
in the children of disobedience.'' He 
who comes in his likeness, doing his 
work, deceiving and ensnaring men to 
their ruin, comes " after the working of 
Satan, with all power and signs and ly- 
ing wonders, and all deceivableness of 



I'XPARDONABLE SIN. 141 

unrighteousness in them that perish, 
because they received not the love of 
the truth that they might be saved. 
For this cause God shall send them 
strong delusion, that they should believe 
a lie: that they all might be damned 
who believed not the truth, but had 
pleasure in unrighteousness. " The 
moral disposition causing this aban- 
donment of God, leaving men to the 
delusion and condemnation of the devil, 
is found in their unwillingness to " be- 
lieve the truth, " and in their taking 
" pleasure in unrighteousness. " God's 
unchanging law of righteousness dooms 
all such to this condemnation. When 
the sinner stubbornly rejects the truth, 
and takes pleasure in unrighteousness, 
the Spirit of God leaves him to his own 
way, and he is "led captive by the devil 
at his will." This is not an arbitrary 
act, nor a spiteful resentment, the out- 



142 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

growth of malignant passion, but the 
inevitable result of resistance to the su- 
preme law of holiness, justice, and love. 
It may not be possible to identify the 
act which drives away the Holy Ghost, 
as perchance it may be the result of re- 
peated and various acts of disobedience, 
a climax of rebelliousness ; but the out- 
come is incapacity for return to repent- 
ance, and therefore the impossibility of 
forgiveness. The sin is unpardonable 
because of the deadness of the sensibili- 
ties. The soul that is "past feeling" is 
abandoned oi God. 

BEARING ON ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. 

From this view we turn to study the 
result of this abandonment and the 
bearing of these Scriptures on the doc- 
trine of eternal retribution. Negatively, 
it is clear enough that if the sinner can 
not be pardoned, he can not be saved. 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 43 

Here we might stand, feeling perfectly 
sure that the possibility of the eternal 
punishment of the incorrigible is here 
taught with irresistible force and clear- 
ness; but justice is not done to the 
cause, and can not be, till we consider 
what is alleged on the other side, giving 
full credit to all efforts to interpret these 
passages in harmony with the doctrine 
which denies the ultimate loss of any 
soul. Something has been done in that 
direction, displaying critical skill, and 
great industry, and persistent purpose. 
Indeed, the latter is so conspicuous that 
its manifestation detracts from the force 
of the criticisms employed and relied 
upon in its defense. 

It is needless to assume that those 
who deny eternal punishment are apt to 
adopt the definition of blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost, which makes it an im- 
possibility under th<5 gospel dispensa- 



144 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

tion. But they are bound to go beyond 
that, and get hold of a principle which 
excludes the possibility of its having 
ever been possible to any human being, 
in any age of the world, or else show 
that, having been committed, it is still 
possible to secure its cancellation and 
recovery from its power. This is a se- 
rious undertaking, but not a few have 
grappled with the problem with all the 
earnestness that determined resolution 
could inspire. Let us patiently study 
their efforts. 

In the first place, they call our atten- 
tion to the word " world," in the phrases, 
" Neither in this world, neither in the 
world to come." We are reminded that 
this word " world" is not kosmos y and 
does not mean the globe on which we 
live. This is a fact which we have no 
occasion to dispute. The word is not 
kosmos, but aion. It expresses duration, 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 45 

and not the material creation. In the 
next place, we are reminded that a large 
number of orthodox as well as other ex- 
positors render this word "age," and not 
"world." Here again we agree. There 
is not the slightest reason for disputing 
this fact. The next step is to quote 
some orthodox commentator, such as 
Dr. Adam Clarke, showing that the pas- 
sage might be rendered, without vio- 
lence, "Neither in this age, neither in 
the age to come." Many orthodox 
writers agree to this, and we make no 
contention against it; but still the issue 
is not reached, and much less is the de- 
cision of the issue in sight. We must 
follow our friends yet another step. It 
is then assumed that the phrase "this 
age," means the Jewish age; and that 
the phrase "the age to come," means 
the Christian age, or the gospel dispen- 
sation. This could also be admitted 



146 UNPARDONABLE SIN 

without serious result to the issue ; but 
fidelity to exact truth will not justify 
the admission, and therefore we do not 
make it. But for the purpose of the 
present argument we proceed as if the 
point were conceded. Let us look into 
it, and see the outcome. 

Here is a sin — a blasphemy — which 
may be forgiven ; and here is another 
sin — another blasphemy — -which may 
not be forgiven. The contrast is clear 
and sharp. The contention of our friends 
is that both may be forgiven. The 
burden of proof is upon them. Their 
duty in the premises is clear; and we 
credit them with the courage necessary 
to the task. Their rendering is this: 
"But whosoever speaketh against the 
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, 
neither in this Jewish age, neither in the 
gospel age yet to come." It is possible 
that this looks less formidable, and per- 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 47 

haps a little milder than the common 
reading; but the question is, Does it 
show any progress toward the proof that 
this sin may be pardoned sometime? Of 
course it obscures the matter a little; 
but that is all. A sin committed under 
the Jewish age that could not be par- 
doned under that dispensation, nor yet 
under the gospel, does not have much 
prospect of forgiveness at any time. 
And, then, that other sweeping nega- 
tive, which has no dependence on the 
word age, stands squarely across the 
path of all the criticisms and obscura- 
tions possible to our liberalistic friends : 
"But the blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." 
It has the appearance of boldness, not 
to say temerity, to look this declaration 
squarely in the face, and then affirm a 
doctrine which can not be true, unless 
there be some way to evade the force of 



148 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

its natural meaning. Pushed to this ex- 
tremity, our liberalistic friends tell us 
that there is no special provision made 
for the forgiveness of this sin either in 
the Mosaic economy or in the gospel. 
Of course we admit this ; but do not ac- 
cept the statement as exhaustive of the 
meaning of the words, nor do we see 
wherein it relieves the system, w^hose 
life depends upon the denial of the pos- 
sibility of any unpardonable sin. If the 
sin ever was committed by mortal man, 
it must be forgiven some time, or some 
one will be shut out of heaven forever. 
It was not uncommon years ago for 
our Universalist friends, in view of the 
emergency this case brings them into, to 
advance the thought that the final escape 
from the consequence of this sin is in 
the resurrection of the dead, and there- 
fore not in the Jewish or Christian age. 
But the idea of salvation from any sin in 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 49 

the resurrection is not insisted on now 
as formerly, for the reason that teachers 
of this school have changed their views 
of the resurrection itself, removing from 
themselves the ground on which they 
formerly builded their expectation of 
moral changes through resurrection 
power. They are compelled to recog- 
nize the fact that whatever their notion 
of the subjects, time, nature, or manner 
of the resurrection, it must belong to the 
gospel period, as it is indeed the crown- 
ing act of the redeeming scheme — the 
consummation of the kingdom of God. 
It therefore follows that forgiveness in 
the resurrection, if that might be af- 
firmed, would still be forgiveness in the 
world or "age to come," if not in this 
age. To such straits are our friends 
driven, and yet without the slightest 
relief. 

A desperate case necessitates desper- 



150 UNPARDONABLE SIN 

ate resorts. So, in their extremity, liber- 
alists have given ample proof of their 
fertility in invention. Some have as- 
sumed that this whole matter of blas- 
phemy against the Holy Ghost is a na- 
tional affair; that the Jews as a nation 
rejected Christ, attributed his miracles 
to the devil, and incurred the guilt of a 
sin which could not be forgiven, but 
must be punished to the extent of its 
deserts; and that it was thus punished 
in the calamities that befell that people 
in the overthrow of their metropolis, the 
subversion of their polity, the desolation 
of their land, and their dispersion among 
the nations of the earth. The national 
sin and punishment of the Jews is a stu- 
pendous fact, attesting in the presence of 
nations and generations the truth of the 
predictions of Christ in the Holy Gos- 
pels; but the assumption that this blas- 
phemy was a national sin is not only 



UNPARDONABLE SIN 151 

gratuitous, but preposterous, and incon- 
sistent with the scope and language of 
the passages in question. A* crime like 
rebellion, or the general prevalence of 
idolatry or unbelief or sensuality, might 
become, as it often does, a national sin; 
but here is plainly an individual sin, 
while the whole tenor of the words 
points to personal action and responsi- 
bility. It is " whosoever." There is 
nothing in all the connection to indicate 
any other than personal conduct. The 
sin is "blasphemy," speaking words 
against the Son of man and against the 
Holy Ghost. It is safe to say that the 
idea of a national offense and national 
punishment would never have been 
thought of in connection with these 
Scriptures, but for the predetermination 
to avoid their testimony to the fact of 
eternal punishment — a predetermination 
induced by the control which a favorite 



152 UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

notion often obtains over the judgment 
and reason. 

Thus every effort to interpret these 
words of our Lord, without involving the 
doctrine in question, becomes a mere sub- 
terfuge, having no support in criticism 
or sound exegesis. It is amazing that 
intelligent people are misled by such 
sophistries as appear in the endeavor to 
escape the truth to which we are shut 
up in these terrible words. Then, be- 
yond the force of the unmistakable dec- 
laration, "It shall not be forgiven him, 
neither in this world, neither in the 
world to come," there is that other still 
stronger universal negative given in the 
record by Mark: " But he that shall blas- 
pheme against the Holy Ghost hath 
never forgiveness." There is no way to 
evade this language. In it there is noth- 
ing equivocal, nothing ambiguous, noth- 
ing obscure. It stands as an impreg- 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 1 53 

nable wall across the path of every one 
who attempts escape. Its assertion must 
be admitted or denied; for it can neither 
be misunderstood nor distorted.. "Hath 
never forgiveness " covers all worlds, all 
"ages," all dispensations and kingdoms, 
and all possible duration. "Hath never 
forgiveness!" These are the words of 
Jesus Christ — words of warning and 
pity welling from a heart of tenderness, 
the everlasting refutation of all doctrines 
that promise forgiveness to the impeni- 
tent, or salvation to the incorrigible. 



III. 

The Duration of Punishment. 

" Is in danger of eternal damnation." — mark ill, 29. 
" Is guilty of an eternal sin. 5 '— revised version, 

WE follow the study of the unpar- 
donable sin with a brief glance at 
the Scriptural authority for the doctrine 
of eternal punishment. Without any 
purpose to make the argument general 
or exhaustive, or to cover other ground 
than that indicated by the Scriptures 
already before us, we desire to weigh 
the terms expressive of duration, and 
candidly examine their import. 

Since these Scriptures declare with 
certain voice that there is "an eternal 
sin," and that because it is unforgivable 
it is necessarily eternal, and its condem- 
ns 



156 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

nation eternal; and since in our day 
many have been induced, by one pretext 
or another, to become doubtful or con- 
fused with regard to this doctrine; and 
since there is in the Churches an unac- 
• countable trend towards loosening the 
lines of rigid teaching on this subject, — 
it seems well, and necessary indeed, for 
some one to recall attention, if possible, 
to the language of the Divine Teacher, 
and to the actual significance of his 
words touching the final condition of 
those who reject him. We do this, we 
trust, in the spirit that moved him to 
utter these strong words, remembering 
that the voice of warning is the most 
appropriate expression of love where 
danger threatens. 

Of late years the literature of the 
Churches contains but little on this sub- 
ject, leaving those who are just receiving 
their education in such matters very 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 57 

largely to the influence of the bold and 
unchallenged statements of those whose 
teachings are unsound and misleading. 
It is painful to realize the lack of infor- 
mation existing among young Christians 
on these weighty questions which divide 
between the evangelical and the liber- 
alistic Churches of this country. A half, 
or even a third of a century ago, things 
were different in this regard. More at- 
tention was given to doctrines, and espe- 
cially to the great doctrines which under- 
lie the denominations, and distinguish 
them one from another. A prejudice 
against doctrines, or against their incul- 
cation, has grown up, which bodes no 
good to the cause of truth ; and particu- 
larly is this true with regard to those 
sterner teachings of our faith which por- 
tray the evils of sin, the power of the 
devil, the depravity of man, and the des- 
tiny of the wicked. The result is, that 



158 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

the average congregation, in our cities 
especially, can be filled with heresy from 
the pulpit without suspecting it, if only 
the discourse be clothed in attractive 
garb and take on an ethical pretentious- 
ness. The exigency demands that the doc- 
trine of eternal retribution be again set 
forth as it appears in the Holy Scriptures. 
In these Scriptures relating to the 
sin of blasphemy, the assertion is that 
the incorrigible shall be " in danger of 
eternal damnation." The language is 
plain and vigorous, and emphasized by 
the fact that it describes the result of 
sin which "hath never forgiveness. " As 
honest students of the Word, we are 
bound to face the strongest language 
without bias, and to seek its proper 
meaning with an unswerving purpose to 
accept it as authoritative, regardless of 
any personal preferences we may possess. 
These two phrases belong together, and 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 59 

should be studied together: "Hath 
never forgiveness, " " Shall be in danger 
of eternal damnation. " We grant that 
this old English word " damnation," is 
simply the equivalent of condemnation ; 
but the meaning is not changed. " Eter- 
nal condemnation" may have a milder 
sound to some ears, and may be preferred 
on that account, without any softening 
of the dreadful reality expressed. Who- 
soever has committed the sin which 
"hath never forgiveness," is necessarily 
doomed to " eternal condemnation." 

Just here we are reminded that in the 
New Version this word " condemnation " 
does not appear. The revisers recogniz- 
ing another Greek text, in place of the 
phrase, " Shall be in danger of eternal 
damnation," give us as the better render- 
ing, "Sliall be guilty of an eternal sin." 
Accepting this rendering, its bearing on 
the doctrine in question becomes a mat- 



160 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

ter of interest. To be "guilty of an eter- 
nal sin " is a serious something. It is a 
guilt which abides, which is never re- 
moved, which " hath never forgiveness," 
No mitigation is found in this reading. 
The doctrine is not modified in the least 
degree. Our ears are not yet familiar 
with the sound of these words ; but there 
must be such a thing as an " eternal sin." 
Not that the act is forever in process 
without being completed ; nor yet that 
the sin is being forever repeated, mak- 
ing an infinite series of transgressions; 
but the sin once committed is a fact for 
eternity, and the guilt once upon the 
soul remains uncanceled, unforgiven, un- 
expiated. The condemnation of this 
sin is an "eternal condemnation." 

THE TWO GREEK WORDS. 
This brings us to the study of the 
words rendered " eternal." Around these 
words has gathered the smoke of battle 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT, l6l 

for generations. Here the enemies of 
the doctrine of eternal punishment have 
massed their forces ; here they have dis- 
played their longest lines and their heav- 
iest arms, and in the presence of this 
strong orthodox citadel, which has never 
been captured, they have assumed the 
airs of victors, and persuaded themselves 
that they were in possession, when they 
have neither passed a trench, nor taken 
a redoubt. As an invincible stronghold, 
unmoved in her quiet security, this old 
fortress sends forth an occasional shot 
from her ramparts into the camp of her 
enemies to assure them that she is still 
impregnable. 

It is needless to retrace the literature 
of this old controversy, and yet the most 
that can now be said has been said be- 
fore. Our aim shall, therefore, be at 
clearness and directness, rather than at 

novelty or originality. 
ii 



1 62 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

The two Greek words, aion and aidnios, 
are the words in dispute. The latter is 
a derivative of the former, and, so far as 
duration is concerned, both express ex- 
actly the same thing. They are, there- 
fore, to be treated as different forms of 
the same word. All concede that they 
express duration; but the dispute is as 
to whether they express limited or un- 
limited duration. Our contention is that 
they express unlimited duration, and that 
they are the best words in the Greek 
language to express an endless condition, 
whether that condition be good or bad. 
Because of the great amount of effort 
that has been made to disprove this 
position, more of detail in analysis and 
illustration will be allowable than would 
be necessary under other circumstances. 

Much has been said about the primary 
and secondary meaning of these words. 
What we want to get at is their proper 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 63 

meaning as used in the New Testament, 
and especially as they occur in connec- 
tion with punishment. That they are 
used in connection with the punishment 
of the wicked, is a fact not to be disputed; 
but the question is as to their meaning 
when so used, and as to whether they 
are to be taken in their primary and lit- 
eral signification, or in a secondary or 
figurative sense. The particular phases 
of the issue will appear as we proceed. 

The word axon is composed of two 
words, aei, ever; and on, being; literally, 
ever being. In order to see its force, as 
a word expressive of duration, we will 
glance briefly at the use of aez\ when 
it occurs alone or uncompounded. A 
few instances will suffice. "And the 
multitude crying aloud, began to desire 
him to do as he had ever — aei — done 
unto them." (Mark xv, 8.) "Ye stiff- 
necked and uncircumcised in heart and 



164 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

ears, ye do always — aei — resist the Holy 
Ghost." (Acts vii, 51.) "For we which 
live are always — aei — delivered unto 
death." (2 Cor. iv, 11.) " Wherefore I 
was grieved with this generation, and 
said they do always — aei — err in their 
heart." (Heb. iii, 10.) " The Cretians 
are always — aei — liars." (Titus 1, 12.) 
" But sanctify the Lord God in your 
hearts, and be ready always — aei — to 
give an answer to every man that asketh 
you a reason of the hope that is in you." 
(1 Peter iii, 15.) "Wherefore I will not 
be negligent to put you always in re- 
membrance of these things." (2 Peter 
1,12.) In all these places, and in many 
more, this word aei is used in the sense 
of always or continually, expressing un- 
interruptedness of existence or of habit. 
The lexicons define it "always, ever, 
aye ; uninterruptedly, continually, per- 
petually." Donegan applies it to the 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 65 

circumstance of magistrates succeeding 
one another in uninterrupted succession. 
The conclusion is, therefore, irresistible, 
that when joined with the word on, or 
being, it denotes uninterrupted, and 
therefore ceaseless, duration. This is 
its first and most literal meaning, the 
sense it always conveys, except when 
used in an accommodated way, as when 
applied to things which are by their 
nature limited as to duration. Even 
then the limiting circumstance is not in 
the word, but in the nature of the thing 
to which it is applied. It expresses the 
entire duration of " the everlasting hills. " 
It is conceded on all sides that this 
word is often used to convey the idea of 
endless duration, and used for that pur- 
pose when the scope of the thought 
would demand the employment of the 
strongest and most unequivocal word in 
the language to express the thought. 



1 66 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

This is certainly true when the design 
is to express the duration of the being 
and perfections of God, the throne and 
dominion of Jesus Christ, and the hap- 
piness of the saints in heaven. If the 
language contained a word that would 
more strongly or more certainly con- 
vey the idea of endless duration than 
this word does, it would have been 
used w r hen these glorious things of eter- 
nity were described as to their duration ; 
but this word, and no other, was used 
for this purpose, and used continually in 
such relations. This tremendous fact 
ought to be decisive as to the meaning 
of the word, and it is decisive, whether 
those having a doctrine to maintain 
which will not bear the admission, agree 
to it or not. Nor can it be that the 
word is used in an accommodated or 
secondary sense for this high purpose. 
If there is a truth in the universe worthy 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 167 

of declaration definitely, unequivocally, 
and in language incapable of being mis- 
understood, it is the truth which relates 
to the eternity of God, and the endless- 
ness of heaven. It can not be that such 
truth is revealed only in words used in 
an accommodated, metaphorical, or sec- 
ondary sense. 

It is not disputed that words are 
sometimes used in a secondary or ac- 
commodated sense ; but this fact does 
not authorize arbitrary juggling. The 
accommodated use of words must have 
some law and some limitation. Words 
which properly express unlimited dura- 
tion may be accommodated to the ex- 
pression of limited time, where the 
limit is apparent, or where the limiting 
circumstance is known ; but it is not 
possible to make a word expressive of 
definite or limited time, express more 
than it contains in its literal or proper 



1 68 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

signification. A year can not be used 
to mean a century; nor can the word 
century be extended to mean a millen- 
nium. The greater contains the less, 
but the less does not contain the greater. 
A part does not contain the whole. 
Time does not contain eternity. So a 
word for limited time can not express un- 
limited duration. When a word whose 
proper meaning is endless duration is 
applied to things of earth or things that 
perish, it is necessarily used in an ac- 
commodated sense, the limiting circum- 
stance being in the nature of the thing 
that can not endure forever. It is plain, 
therefore, that the word which expresses 
the endless duration of God and his 
throne, must contain the idea of end- 
less duration as its primary and literal 
meaning. This is our contention ; but 
those who deny the eternity of punish- 
ment, contend that the word in question 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 69 

means only limited time, properly, and 
that it is used to express the eternity of 
God's throne and kingdom in a sec- 
ondary or accommodated sense. They 
hold that it expresses more than it con- 
tains ; that its meaning is expanded ; 
that in some mysterious way this word 
leaps beyond itself to express the end- 
lessness of the kingdom of glory, while 
it shrivels into imperative limitations 
when applied to the condemnation of 
sin, which "hath never forgiveness. " 

Finding, then, as we do, both from its 
composition and its use, that this word 
literally means endless duration, and is 
properly rendered " everlasting' ' and 
"eternal," the question arises, and is 
easily answered, as to whether it must 
be taken in its primary, literal sense, 
when it is employed in connection with 
punishment to express its duration. 
The answer is, All words are to be un- 



170 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

derstood in their literal or primary sense, 
unless there is something in their use to 
clearly indicate the contrary. This word, 
aionion, literally means " everlasting," 
and it is used to express the duration 
of punishment again and again, in the 
Scriptures, and always without any no- 
tice or intimation of a figurative, accom- 
modated, or secondary use, and it is so 
used that there can be no limiting cir- 
cumstance, unless it be found in the 
nature of the thing to which it is applied. 
It is applied to punishment, and unless 
there is something in the nature of pun- 
ishment that limits its duration, it must 
mean endless punishment. 

Will our friends of the opposition con- 
tend that there is somewhat in the 
nature of punishment that limits it to 
temporary duration? It is not sufficient 
to insist that the design of punishment 
implies its limitation; for the design of 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 171 

punishment is not now in the account. 
To bring it in at this point is to assume 
the point in dispute. It is to beg the 
question. We affirm nothing in this 
contention with regard to the nature or 
the design of punishment. The simple 
issue is as to its duration, its endlessness, 
its finality. The word " everlasting" 
expresses it. It is everlasting unless it 
is limited in its own nature. Then 
the limitation is not in the word, but 
in the nature of the punishment. 
There is nothing in the nature of pun- 
ishment that can limit it as to dura- 
tion, unless it be in the nature of the 
subject of the punishment ; that is, in 
the sinner condemned to the punish- 
ment. If the immortality of the sinner 
should fail, and the moral ruin wrought 
within him destroy sensibility and con- 
sciousness, that might modify the pun- 
ishment in its nature and result, but it 



I J2 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

would neither terminate the condemna- 
tory sentence nor reverse it. The "con- 
demnation M would still be "eternal." 
In this sense the punishment would be 
unending, and the word " everlasting " 
would express it literally and properly. 
Whenever the word aion is construed 
with the preposition eis, especially in 
New Testament Greek, it invariably sig- 
nifies endless duration. This statement 
is so certainly correct that there is not the 
slightest danger of contradiction ; and 
yet it means much in this discussion. 
Xot that the preposition adds to the 
duration expressed by the word itself, 
for that is impossible ; but it marks its 
application, and denotes that it is to be 
taken in its full and proper sense. It 
is used in this way about sixty times in 
the Xew Testament. In fifty-four places 
it undeniably expresses endless duration. 
In the remaining six places its applica- 



D URA TION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 7 3 

tion is to punishment, and no sign 
appears that it is not used in its uni- 
form signification. Now, if in fifty-four 
instances this word is used in this way 
in the sense of endless duration, is it 
not reasonable to assume that it bears 
the same import in the other six places, 
seeing there is no limiting word or cir- 
cumstance to forbid it? The phrase 
eis tons aidnas ton aionion, commonly 
rendered " for ever and ever," occurs 
eighteen times in the New Testament. 
In fifteen instances it expresses the con- 
tinuance of the glory, perfection, gov- 
ernment, and praise of God. The idea 
of endlessness is its burden in all these 
places. In one of the remaining in- 
stances it is applied to the righteous 
in the future world, who shall reign 
" for ever and ever." In the other two 
instances it is applied to punishment. 
Of a class of impenitent sinners it is 



174 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

said that " the smoke of their torment 
ascendeth up for ever and ever." In 
the remaining passage it is said of the 
devil, the beast, and the false prophet, 
that " they shall be tormented day and 
night for ever and ever." Conceding 
that there is figurative language in these 
Scriptures, and that the symbolism of 
this book is not easily understood, the 
fact still stands that the phraseology 
is that which expresses endlessness. 
Whatever the import of the symbols, 
the words bear their proper meaning, 
and represent a state of endless perdi- 
tion. Then we ask again, Is it reason- 
able to suppose that the Spirit of God 
would inspire his servant to use this 
phrase sixteen times to denote a dura- 
tion absolutely endless, and twice to 
denote something absolutely different, 
without the slightest indication of a 
different import? 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT, 1 75 

The derivative, aionios, is used sev- 
enty-one times in the New Testament. 
Five times it expresses the duration of 
punishment. In all the other instances 
it unquestionably denotes endless dura- 
tion. In some places the contrast is 
made between the final condition of the 
righteous and the wicked, and this word 
is so employed to express the duration 
of the condition of both classes, that if 
there were any difference in the dura- 
tion, common honesty would demand 
that it be intimated, and without the 
intimation deception would certainly be 
the result. Then the question recurs, 
Is it not reasonable to conclude that the 
word bears the same meaning in the 
five instances in which it applies to 
punishment that it does in the sixty-six 
instances? If so, the endlessness of 
future punishment is taught in the 
Holy Scriptures beyond the shadow of 



176 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

a doubt. The words expressive of du- 
ration, applied again and again to the 
ultimate outcome of a life of sin, cover 
all possible existence in the everlasting 
state. 

We sum up as follows: 1. The radical 
import of aion and of aionion is unlim- 
ited duration. 2. It is a correct rule that 
these words, as all words, should be 
understood in their proper, radical, or 
primary sense, except where there is 
some word or circumstance which clearly 
limits their meaning. 3. Words express- 
ive of duration may be restricted in their 
application to less than their literal and 
primitive import, but they can not be 
enlarged so as to express more than they 
contain. 4. When the preposition ets 
stands with aion, that word is never used 
in a limited sense ; and it is thus found 
in connection with future punishment. 
5. There is nothing in the nature of 



DURATIOJ\ OF PUNISHMENT. 1 77 

punishment to restrict the meaning of 
the word, or to prevent it from having 
its proper sense, unless the subject of 
the punishment should drop out of be- 
ing, in which event the judgment decree 
or sentence to eternal punishment would 
not be reversed. The irreversible doom 
of the sinner would be effectual, and the 
word expressive of unlimited duration 
would have appropriate use. 

OTHER WORDS. 

The position above summarized will 
be confirmed if it be seen to be impos- 
sible to find another word in the Greek 
that will so well express the idea of un- 
limited duration. In their stress of 
anxiety to make a point against the 
doctrine of eternal retribution, its op- 
ponents sometimes urge an inquiry like 
this: If God intended the doctrine of 
eternal punishment to be believed, why 



178 9 URA TION OF PUNISHMENT. 

is it not set forth in unambiguous lan- 
guage — in the use of words which so 
clearly express the idea of endless dura- 
tion that their meaning can not be mis- 
understood? This implies that the 
terms in which this doctrine is taught 
in the Scriptures, the words already con- 
sidered, are ambiguous, which we deny, 
and have shown to be untrue; and it 
also implies that there were other words 
in the language that might have been 
employed, that were less ambiguous, and 
better calculated to express clearly and 
forcefully the idea of endless duration. 
So important has this been deemed that 
serious efforts have been made to estab- 
lish the proposition. The words claimed 
as expressing endless duration better 
than those employed for that purpose 
have been specified, which, of course, is 
the only way of testing the matter, and 
we must therefore look at the words in- 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 79 

dicated, and weigh the claim set up for 
them. 

The claim that other words express 
endless duration better than aion and 
aionion is a reflection on the wisdom of 
the sacred writers ; for there is no doubt 
that, when they wrote of the duration of 
the kingdom and glory of God, they de- 
sired to express themselves clearly, and 
did the best they knew how to give ex- 
pression and emphasis to the thought. 
But if they passed by words better 
adapted to their purpose, and chose 
words of ambiguous and uncertain im- 
port, they did it ignorantly, or carelessly, 
or with purpose to be obscure. What- 
ever view one takes of the matter, if the 
facts be as alleged, either the wisdom 
or the honesty of these writers is im- 
peached. 

It will appear on examination that 
the words specified by the opposition, in 



180 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

behalf of which this claim is made, do 
not express duration at all directly, but 
only imply it ; so that, at best, their im- 
plication of duration is only a conse- 
quential idea, not contained in the words 
at all. They express the quality of sub- 
stances, or the nature of things or offices, 
and have only an incidental relation to 
duration. Two of these words relate to 
the resurrection-body, and express its in- 
corruptibility and immortality, thereby 
implying continued existence ; but they 
do not mention or relate to duration. 
These are aphtharsia, incorruption ; 
and athanasia, immortality. It is sim- 
ply ridiculous to hold that these express 
endless duration at all, and much more 
so to insist that they do it better than 
the words chosen by the inspired writers 
for that purpose. In the same interest, 
amarantos is sometimes mentioned. It 
is of the same class as the two just con- 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. l8l 

sidered. It expresses the quality of 
things, and not duration; meaning un- 
fading, as where the inheritance is de- 
scribed by Peter as " incorruptible, unde- 
filed, and that fadeth not away" It was 
never designed to express duration, is 
not adapted to that end, and it is absurd 
to mention it in that connection. 

There are yet two other words for 
which this claim is made, to which we 
must give a little more attention. The 
first is akatalutos, which is translated 
endless. It occurs in Hebrews vii, 16: 
"Who is made, not after the law of a 
carnal commandment, but after the 
power of an endless life." The life 
mentioned is that which pertained to 
our Lord's priesthood, and stands op- 
posed to the individual tenure of office 
under the law of succession in the 
Aaronic priesthood, wherein men were 
not permitted to continue by reason of 



1 82 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

death. No high priest could remain 
throughout the dispensation. The word 
is compounded of #, negative, and kata- 
louo, to dissolve, and means, literally, 
indissoluble. Katalouo is from kata, 
down, and luo^ to loose, and is defined 
in the lexicons, "To unloose, loosen, 
dissolve; to demolish, destroy, over- 
throw; cancel, annul, abrogate; depose, 
desist from, lay down office." The 
priests, under the law, were compelled 
to lay down office, to dissolve connec- 
tion with it, because of death; but when 
Christ entered upon his priestly duties, 
he possessed a life that was indissoluble, 
and therefore he continues in the priest- 
hood throughout the dispensation. His 
life is endless, in fact; but the word here 
rendered endless relates to its perma- 
nency, and only consequentially to its 
duration. It is easily seen that duration 
is not its meaning;. It is endless because 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT, 1 83 

it can not be dissolved; and the word ex- 
presses its indissolubility directly, and 
suggests duration secondarily. The in- 
dissolubility of Christ's tenure of the 
priestly office is the great thought. It 
would be exceedingly inappropriate to 
use this word where the simple idea of 
duration was to be expressed; and our 
Lord and his apostles are not chargeable 
with incompetency for not preferring it 
when they wished to express endless 
duration. 

The next word to which our attention 
is called is found in Heb. x, 12: "But 
this man, after he had offered one sacri- 
fice for sins, forever sat down on the 
right hand of God." The word here 
rendered forever is dienekes, the neuter 
of dienekes, which is from dia ) through, 
and enekes, extensive; and is rendered 
" continuous, uninterrupted, constant, 
perpetual; lasting, durable, extended; a 



1 84 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

state of uninterrupted protraction." It 
is therefore properly enough translated 
" forever" in the place where it is found, 
having reference to the fact that Christ 
so completely atoned for sin by his one 
sacrifice that his work will never have to 
be repeated. Although he continues in 
the office of high priest, making inter- 
cession for the Church, there will be no 
occasion for another sin-offering. " For 
by one offering he hath perfected — 
dienekes — perpetually, or forever, them 
that are sanctified." The radical idea of 
this word is uninterruptedness. It ap- 
plies to something uniform — steady, per- 
sistent, perpetual; so that it has an ele- 
ment of finality in it, and requires dura- 
tion as an auxiliary, or secondary idea; 
but that it expresses duration as its rad- 
ical import is far from the truth. It is 
not defined by lexicographers as is 
aidnion — everlasting, eternal, endless ; 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1S5 

nor is it recognized as containing the 
time-element, expressing duration as its 
proper meaning. Neither is it employed 
to express the duration of the perfec- 
tions, kingdom, glory, or praise of God; 
nor the endless life and blessedness of 
the righteous. If it were, in fact, better 
adapted to convey the idea of endless 
duration than aion or aionion, it is 
scarcely conceivable that it would have 
been omitted when the sacred writers 
wanted to express that idea in the clear- 
est possible way. 

We have a right to be amazed at the 
temerity of our friends of the opposi- 
tion. They hold that the fact that this 
word is not used in the Scriptures to 
express the duration of punishment is 
an argument against the eternity or 
finality of punishment ; but they do not 
see any argument against the eternity 
of the happiness of the saints in heaven 



1 86 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

in the fact that it is never used to ex- 
press the duration of that happiness. 
The truth is, not one of these words is 
the proper word for endless duration; 
and that accounts for the fact that 
neither of them is used to express the 
eternity of the happiness of the saved, 
the punishment of the wicked, nor the 
perfections of the Deity. It is the mad- 
ness of folly to try to fix upon either of 
these words — Scripture words as they 
are — the meaning that Scriptural usage 
and all the authorities fix upon aion and 
aidnios. This is what the opposers of 
the doctrine of eternal punishment are 
doing, under the pressure, no doubt, of 
an emergency which is keenly felt; and 
their effort to deprive the words which 
do express endless duration, of their 
proper significance, is a failure suffi- 
ciently conspicuous to reveal the folly 
of the undertaking. 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 87 

We turn away from this discussion, 
which is but fairly opened, because of 
limitations imposed upon this writing 
which we must observe. The subject 
is great, worthy of thorough treatment, 
and the material is abundant. The ap- 
plication of the principles above set 
forth to the Scriptures, in which the 
terms occur, would be an interesting 
exercise, and would in every instance 
confirm the positions taken, and bring 
the doctrine maintained into the light 
of Scriptural demonstration; but we 
leave that to the reader, believing that 
every one capable of comprehending 
the argument, can use these principles 
in the solution of all the problems aris- 
ing from the particular passages bearing 
on the subject. The ethical aspects of 
the doctrine have not been brought in 
for lack of space, and for the reason that 
our sole purpose was to present the 



1 88 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT, 

foundation in the terms which the 
Scriptures use, and to guard against the 
glosses of the opposition. It will be ob- 
served, also, that w T e have strenuously 
avoided considering all questions relat- 
ing to the nature or results of future 
punishment. There is a constant tend- 
ency in the minds of most people to 
drift from the simple point of the proof 
of duration to the place, agencies, nature, 
and effects of the eternal retribution so 
surely taught in the Scriptures. Most 
of these incidental studies must be 
largely conjectural, since revelation does 
not deal with them, and the diversion of 
the mind to their consideration obscures 
the main issue, and distracts thought 
when it needs concentration. 

There is, of course, a very natural in- 
terest felt in all these matters ; and, after 
the foundation is firmly established in 
the irrefragable proofs of the fact and 



DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 1 89 

duration of future punishment, it is 
well to gather all the light available 
with reference to the Divine methods 
and purpose in punishment, the provis- 
ion made for it, and the outcome in the 
effect it may have on individuals and on 
the moral universe. Some questions 
w T ill arise in such an investigation that 
must both puzzle and perplex our rea- 
son, because the factors necessary to the 
satisfactory answer are not furnished in 
the Scriptures, and can not be found in 
any philosophy within our reach. In 
such conditions wisdom dictates the 
recognition of the limitations of the 
finite understanding, and suggests that 
duty requires contentment with " those 
things which are revealed, " so long as 
in our pupilage "we know in part," and 
u see through a glass darkly." If an 
understanding of the nature and results 
of eternal punishment had been neces- 



I go DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 

sary to our warning or edification, these 
things would probably have been made 
as clear to us as is the fact itself. With 
us the great thing is the fact. The 
final decree of judgment consigns the 
devil and his angels, and all the un- 
godly of our race, to a perdition out of 
which there is no redemption. This 
is their " everlasting punishment." 
Whether in the oncoming ages their 
sensibilities remain keenly alive, or 
deaden into unconsciousness, their doom 
is alike irreversible. Beyond the realm 
of light and grace their abode is " outer 
darkness." Where the Judge Eternal 
places them, we must leave them. 



aijB Cub. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIOf 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



